Quiet Girl
by savannavansmutsmut
Summary: Bella is a tough cookie who doesn't speak. Edward is a geeky shy guy living in his loud brother, Emmett's shadow. Everyone's attempts to get Bella to talk fail, until she takes an interest in Edward's quiet nature. Sparks fly in the silence! Re-written
1. Chapter 1

**Here we go with the re-write. Dollybigmomma is the beta genius. Check out Breath of twilights profile, follow the countdown one shots. Mine is chapter 4. She will start posting a compilation soon that I helped with, follow her so you don't miss it.**

**Chapter 1 - Silence is golden, **_**duct tape is silver…**_

**EDWARD**

Some days, I hated being the little brother, both in age and stature.

Much to my great annoyance, Emmett had intercepted me after class and was dragging me, literally, off to the library, blabbering on yet again about that "quiet girl" he seemed to find so fascinating.

He had been going on non-stop about this silent chick all month, much to the detriment of my studious concentration, and he had finally decided I needed to see her for myself. I pointed out to Captain Oblivious the fact that he only saw her in the library, and you were _supposed_ to be quiet in there. He insisted that she never talked to anyone, anywhere, on campus. Both Emmett and Jasper had been trying to get her to talk to them for a week now to no avail.

Apparently, no one had ever heard her speak.

"Dude, she wears these fuck-awesome shirts that say funny shit all the time. Jasper said it was her way of talking without talking," Emmett continued on.

We walked into the library and sat down a few tables away from the desk where this girl was working. She hadn't looked up yet and was thumbing through a book.

Her long, blue-streaked dark hair was pulled up into messy pigtails. She didn't look like Emmett or Jasper's usual type, but I guess the whole quiet thing intrigued them.

A woman walked up to her, asking for directions to the fantasy fiction section of the library. The girl smiled, held up her finger, and then made a show of pointing it down to something on the desk. She ran it across something and held up three fingers on her other hand and then moved her finger again, making a circling motion.

The woman smiled and thanked her before leaving, and then the girl went back to her reading. I watched the woman she had given the direction to walk away, curious to see if she really understood them. She seemed to count out three aisles, and then she turned down one, disappearing from view.

Huh, this girl seemed to talk just fine without words.

A tall, dark-haired guy came in and went behind the desk. She waved hello without looking up, and I noticed Emmett was scowling.

"What?" I asked.

"That guy bugs me. He talks to her a lot."

"Does she talk back?"

"Sort of."

I watched the guy help a few people needing assistance. He just looked like another library employee to me.

"Dude, watch this," Emmett punched my arm.

I watched as one of our dorm mates, Mike Newton, walked up to the girl. I couldn't hear what he said, but her response was loud and clear.

She smiled sweetly at Mike, coaxing him to bend over her desk closer to her. Her hand reached out, caressing his neck while she smiled, and then her expression changed to pure fury. His attention was drawn to her other hand, which she ran down the front of him. She made a clawing motion in front of his goods and yanked her hand back in a ripping motion, threatening to rip the dude's balls off.

She hadn't said a word, but the message was crystal clear. She released him from her grip on his neck and plopped back in her chair, going back to her book and ignoring Mike's retreating form.

Emmett was laughing a little too loudly, and she glared over at us. I punched his shoulder, whisper-yelling at him to shut up. The big guy who worked with her walked up, leaning on her desk. Emmett and I moved a bit closer so we could listen to the exchange.

The girl turned her face to the guy and smiled.

"You going to the meat club tonight?" he asked.

She shrugged.

"You know you like the pole." He said it like it would tempt her. To my surprise, she raised an eyebrow at him in interest.

"How 'bout I get the pack to come keep an eye on you?" She smiled widely at him.

"Awesome, we're going to head there around nine o'clock. Do you want us to come pick you up?" She nodded her head yes.

"Cool. I'll tell Quil we're dating, so he'll leave you alone."

She rolled her eyes playfully and smiled. They helped a few more people, while Emmett and I hung back, watching their every move. After a while, the big guy got her attention again.

"So, you want to get some lunch?" She pouted.

"You can just chuck it and come with me, Bells." She scowled.

"Oh, don't give me that starving children lecture. It's just leftovers." She huffed at him.

"Fine, they're your amazingly delicious leftovers, excuse me," he teased. She smiled, shaking her head at him. He pulled his chair up next to hers.

"The pack is heading for the beach this weekend. You in?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Our dads are having a barbeque. You know it'll be good. You could bring some of your starving children," he smiled. She smiled back.

"Cool, I'll let dad know you're in and bringing some friends." They did a little more paperwork and helped a few more people, before he stood up and stretched.

"I'm heading to Mandela's. You want me to pick you up anything?" She held up two fingers.

"You got it, Bells. I'll be back in a few." Once the guy was out of sight, Emmett sat back, crossing his arms and scowling.

"See what I mean? That dude talks her ear off. I think she must be telepathic and can let him know what she's saying without talking," he said seriously. I looked at him as if he was nuts. "So, you feel like going to the club tonight?" he asked completely ignoring my look.

"Do I have a choice?" I argued.

He grinned mischievously at me and then made his way over to the desk. I followed, standing back a little. When she looked up at us, I was stunned. Her long lashes framed the most beautiful pair of brown eyes I had ever seen. Her lips were a deep red and slightly pouty. Her skin was a soft pale with a light sprinkling of freckles across her nose. She was gorgeous, and I was instantly smitten. She wasn't looking at me, but I couldn't tear my eyes off of her. I had no idea what the hell Emmett was saying to her. I was too distracted by her to hear him, but I understood her sudden scowl loud and clear.

Her next move shocked me.

She flipped him off and made a dismissing motion with her hand. She'd basically just told him to fuck off. I couldn't help laughing, and her eyes snapped to me, raising an eyebrow. I was mesmerized by her, but Emmett punched my shoulder, knocking me out of whatever voodoo hypnotist thing she was doing to me. I quietly cleared my throat.

"Sorry," I whispered nervously. I shoved at Emmett to try and make him move so we could leave her alone, but he grabbed my shoulders and shoved me in front of her.

"Why don't you give it a try?" Emmett teased. The girl scowled at him, but then her eyes fell on me, and she looked like she was patiently waiting for something.

"I'm so sorry my brother's an ass," I whispered nervously.

She smiled.

Emmett punched my shoulder, "Dude," he growled, "You're supposed to pick up on her, you know, get her to talk."

I glared at Emmett. "She doesn't want to talk, that much is clear, so leave her alone. Why are you bugging her?"

"God, you geek, you're no fun," he growled and shoved me back in front of her. I saw her eyes darken with fury. I actually flinched back a little, but realized her gaze was focused on Emmett. "Say something to her. You know, about her looking hot or something," Emmett pushed. My eyes involuntarily ran down her form, and that was when I saw her shirt, reading the caption.

'_**I'm still on earth, because Heaven kicked me out and Hell is afraid I'll take over.'**_

I couldn't help but smile.

"That's a cool shirt," I whispered as I looked back up into her eyes, and she quirked an eyebrow at me. I cleared my throat nervously. "I mean…sorry…I'll just be going," I stammered, trying to move away from the desk, but Jasper came up behind me, trapping me.

"Hey, Bella," he said cheerfully. She didn't even look at him. "Man, she's a tough nut to crack," Jasper muttered.

Emmett pulled us aside, but I knew we were still close enough for this girl to hear. "Dude, you think she might be gay?" he asked Jasper. I just dropped my head into my hands in shame at my brother's stupidity. We heard fingers snapping, so we all turned our attention to the girl, who was looking at us seriously. She pointed at me, and I stepped back panicked, trying to escape. I was sure she was going to rip my balls off, just like she had threatened to do to that other guy. Her eyes focused on me, as if she were deciding something. She stepped up on her chair and then her desk. I thought for sure this girl was going to kick my ass.

Then she did the most amazing thing.

She put her hands on my shoulders, and then she jumped into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist. Her lips hit mine, and I was sure I had died and gone to heaven. She was kissing me. God help me, it was amazing. I mean, she _really_ kissed me. I ended up setting her on the edge of the desk and grinding against her, not able to control myself. I finally had to break the kiss to breathe, panting hard. She gave me a sexy vixen smile, and then she slid out of my arms and walked back around her desk, plopping down in her chair and going back to her book as if nothing had happened.

"She's straight, guys," I said, still panting and leaning on her desk for support.

Jasper started laughing and punched Emmett in the shoulder. "Damn straight she's straight. It looks like we're just not her type," Jasper chuckled.

"All right, Eddie boy!" Emmett cheered.

"Shut up, dude! We're in the library," I shushed him and looked to see if Bella was scowling at us, but she wasn't. She smiled at me.

Of course, I blushed bright red, causing Jasper to chuckle.

Go me…


	2. Chapter 2

**This will update about one to two chapters a week, not including these two. I don't want to get to distracted from In Love With a stranger. Dollybigmomma is my beta lover.**

**Chapter 2 - Suicide hotline, please hold…**

**EDWARD**

I was so embarrassed by my stupid brother that I decided to study at the park instead of the library. No way was I going back in there to face her. She was just so amazing and beautiful and complicated and...

I walked into a tree and fell down on a guy sleeping under it.

"Oh, my gosh, I'm so, so sorry, Sir! It was an accident, I really was just so distracted that I didn't see the tree, and I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" I quickly apologized.

The old man smiled at me. "You didn't see the tree?" he asked looking up at the massive oak. It was probably about three times my width.

I blushed, because I sounded like a complete moron. "No, I didn't."

"So, who is she?" the old man asked with a smile.

I cleared my throat, "Um, a girl that…um…works at the library," I stuttered out.

He let out a laugh, "Nice. She must be smart."

I blushed and shrugged. Truth was I didn't know anything about the girl.

He looked down next to me, and I noticed my Louis Lamoure book had fallen out of my bag. I had read it a thousand times.

"Hey, Louis Lamoure, he's really good."

"Yeah, he's awesome. I have his whole collection. I usually have one of his books with me to kill time."

"I haven't read this one yet," he said.

"Would you like to borrow it?" I offered.

He looked at me like I was crazy, and I wondered if I'd done something wrong. "Really? That'd be great!" he said excitedly. "What's your name, Son?"

"Edward, and it's no problem, I'll just get it from you next time I come through the park. Are you usually around the park at lunchtime?"

"Yes, I am, actually. I have a friend I meet up with here every day."

"Cool, I'll see you around then."

I found myself at a picnic table under a large ramada. My books and notebooks were spread across the table, as I lost myself in my studies.

"Hey, Joe, she's coming, get up and look alive," someone shouted not too far from me.

I looked up to see several worn-looking men with packs and bedrolls making their way to where I was sitting. There were four tables under the ramada, and by the looks of it, they were going to need all of them. I quickly started packing up my books, apologizing for being in their way.

The man I had loaned my book to put a hand on my shoulder. "Stay, Son, you don't have to go. There's plenty of room for everyone," he offered

Moments later, the whole group joyfully shouted, "Bella!"

I almost fell off the bench.

There she stood, with a wide smile on her face, as several men surrounded her, hugging her and helping take the bags she was carrying.

I sat shocked with my mouth hanging open.

They passed the bags around, taking out paper plates and plastic forks. I smiled when I saw they were from Mandela's. There were also two large trays of lasagna and four large Tupperware containers full of something that smelled heavenly.

The man I had loaned my book to smiled and passed me a plate. "Go on, boy, she won't mind." I looked up to see Bella looking at me curiously. "This is my friend, Edward. He's loaning me a book to read."

"Hi again," I said nervously offering my hand to her.

She smiled as if she was laughing to herself and ignored my extended hand. She scooped out something that smelled delicious onto a plate and handed it to me. I couldn't contain the moan, when I put a forkful of it into my mouth.

It tasted amazing.

I noticed the other men referred to my new "friend" as Sweet-tooth Tom. I asked him about it, and he pulled a Dum-Dum lollipop from his bag.

"I quit smoking using these. I always have them on me now," he grinned.

"So, how did you meet Bella?" I asked, sure to speak softly, so she wouldn't hear. She was busy listening to some men at a different table.

"Much like I met you, I suppose," Tom's smile widened as he spoke. "She was walking while reading a book and tripped over my legs. The shirt she was wearing said, '_**S**__**trangers have the best candy.'**_ It made me laugh, so I just had to give her some candy. I offered her one of my Dum-Dum's, and to my surprise, she not only took it, but she sat down next to me and split her sandwich with me. She started finding me at lunchtime and next thing I know, there's a group of us, and we're meeting here," he said motioning to the ramada.

"She's really something. Joe says she works at the library. Maybe she knows the girl you like." Before I could stop him he shouted out, "Hey, Bella, Edward here is enamored with a girl who works at the library, walked straight into a tree thinking about her today. You mind helping my boy out?"

I was mortified. I wished the earth would open up and swallow me whole.

Bella looked at me and gave me a wink.

Tom patted my back and said, "See, boy, she'll help you out."

I silently prayed I would be able to leave the park with my balls intact.


	3. Chapter 3

**The chapters are a bit shorter than my usual ones because this is older and a re-write. That is why I'll be doing two a week instead of one. Dollybigmomma is my beta queen.**

**Chapter 3 - The more I learn, the less I understand**

**EDWARD**

After my encounter with Bella at the park, I decided to avoid her at all cost. I was sure she'd kill me for thinking she was hot and wanting her. I hid in my dorm, because I figured that was pretty safe.

Of course, I was wrong.

At a little after eight o'clock that evening, Emmett came barging in with Jasper in tow and started trying to pull me out of my room. I told him I'd changed my mind, and that there was no way I wanted to go to the club, especially if Bella would be there.

"Dude! You're scared of that tiny chick? That's too freaking hilarious, little bro. Grow a pair and let's go! You need to relax and spend a night not thinking about the pressure Dad and Gramps put on us," Emmett pushed.

"I don't think so. Now get out so I can study!" I should have known better. This, of course, just made them want to mess with me even more, because they were jerks like that.

They ended up tying me up with my bed sheet and carrying me out to Emmett's jeep, using a sock to gag me.

Had I mentioned that I hated my brother?

I was mentally considering which schools I could transfer to with the least amount of hassle, when we pulled up to the nightclub.

Emmett patted my shoulder roughly, "You going to be a good boy now, Eddie?" he teased.

I rolled my eyes at him, and he pulled the gag out of my mouth. "Don't call me Eddie, jerk face."

Jasper offered me a breath mint, and I took it. Even my clean socks tasted nasty.

We had just made it out of the jeep, when we heard a bunch of howling. We turned to see a truckload of huge dark-skinned guys jumping around and howling, as they hopped out of the back of a truck. I was about to turn away, when the cab of the truck opened, and that guy from the library got out. I stood there, terrified as hell, as he put a hand out, and then I saw a dainty little pale hand reach for his from inside the truck cab.

He smiled as he helped Bella from the truck, and she was returning his smile. I hated that she was smiling at him and not me. I also hated that she was standing amid a group of huge rowdy guys and was completely untouchable. I realized that even if she hadn't been standing there amongst those guys, she would still be untouchable.

The guys she was with lined up on either side of her, making a path to the club door. They hunched down, howling up at her and cat calling, and she smiled as she walked by them, with the big guy from the library on her arm.

I was starting to hate that guy, too.

"Looks like your girl's here, Eddie boy. Let's go see if you can get her to talk this time," my stupid brother laughed.

I started to shake my head no at him, but he and Jasper put their arms around me and began dragging me towards the club entrance against my will. There was a statuesque blonde chick who eyed Emmett at the door before waving us in.

Was she the bouncer?

Jasper patted my shoulder, "Come on, little boy, let's get a couple of drinks in you so you can loosen up."

We made our way to the bar, and I settled myself onto a stool, determined not to move from it for the rest of the night. My eyes found Bella, because really, there was no place else they wanted to look. If all they saw was her for the rest of their lives, they would be happy.

After a few drinks, I had decided I was slightly buzzed, and my eyes were pussies, because they loved Bella so much they couldn't look away. I noticed a greasy blonde guy starting to bug my girl. She gave him a tight-lipped smile and shook her head no at him. Slimy didn't back down. Monster library guy stepped up to take care of him, but Bella put her hand on his chest to stop him. She turned back to Slimy, narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head no again, wearing a scowl this time. She was clearly getting annoyed with his advances.

Slimy made a fatal mistake, when he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. She punched him square in his junk, leaving him curled on the floor and crying as she walked away. The rowdy guys she was with were all laughing and high-fiving each other. I noticed a couple of guys passing money to another guy who was smiling smugly. I was pretty sure they had been making bets on whether or not Bella would beat Slimy up.

Smug guy with the load of cash had apparently won.

It wasn't long until they made their way to one of three poles on the dance floor. The rowdy guys she came with made a circle around one of the poles and started stomping the floor, as Bella made her way to the pole. They all shouted in excitement, when she jumped up and caught the pole with just her legs, not using her hands at all.

That was just freaking amazing!

She began to move on the pole, completely defying gravity. My girl was a circus freak, and I loved it. I was distracted, when I heard my brother asking someone what they had said to Bella. I realized he was talking to Slimy.

"She's wearing a shirt that says, _'__**So, you're a cannibal?**__''_ I said to her, 'Yes, and I'd love to eat you.' Then the bitch goes psycho on me."

I scowled at him for calling her a psycho bitch. She had clearly told him _no,_ more than once, actually. The idiot just didn't know how to listen.

My attention was drawn back to the most amazing girl in the world, as the guys she was with started going crazy. Giant library guy stepped forward and took her head in his hands. He was holding her face right next to his junk, smiling down at her, and she was smiling at him. I was about to look away, because I couldn't stand to see her like that, when he suddenly whipped her away from him, sending her spinning around the pole. To my amazement, she actually spun **up** it!

How the heck did she do that?

I didn't realize in my drunken distraction that I had stood up and moved a little closer to them. I greatly regretted this, however, as my stupid retarded idiotic brother grabbed me and started shoving me forward. I was pretty sure we were going to die, when a couple of her huge goons stopped us from getting any closer. My brother was clearly impaired, as he started to argue with them. I was shaking my head no, trying my damndest to get away, when I heard a deep voice call, "She wants that one." I turned to see that library guy was pointing to me.

I went pale.

I was going to die.

I was never going to procreate, ever, because my balls would be left on this dance floor. I was shaking hard, and in danger of pissing myself, as two big guys pushed me forward. I heard Emmett cheering and screaming my name. I was going to kill him. I was just going to transfer schools before, but I had changed my mind.

Emmett must die.

"Open up, buddy," one of the guys holding me in place said, trying to get me to open my eyes. I opened them in time to see Bella smile at me.

My heart was beating right out of my chest. I was gasping for air, but my lungs just wouldn't fill. She curled her finger at me, wanting me to come forward, and one of the big guys pushed me closer. She swung down the pole, looking heavenly. I was pretty sure angels used poles to get to earth, because that was how she had gotten here.

I was breathing hard, with my mouth hanging open, but I couldn't get enough control over my body to stop it. She reached out her hand and motioned for me to turn around, so I did.

Then I felt her.

One of her legs was on my hip, and the other one was wrapped over my knee. One arm was wrapped around my neck, and then her head popped up under my arm. I was holding my arms out, because I didn't want her to think I would ever touch her against her will. Her free hand ran along the edge of my jeans under my shirt, and I was panting so hard, I thought I would pass out. Her hand slid up under my shirt, and she traced around my nipple. I was now sporting a huge woody. I closed my eyes, embarrassed as hell, but also to savor the feel of her touch before I died.

She exposed my stomach, and my eyes popped open wide, when I felt her lips on my skin. God, she was going to rip my balls off for bugging her so much today, I just knew it. She kissed down my stomach, and I moaned involuntarily. When she reached my belly button, she tickled it with her tongue, and then she did the most unexpected thing ever.

She blew a huge raspberry on my belly.

The group busted out in loud laughter, as she unwound herself from me and kissed my cheek. I looked at her wide-eyed and confused. She put her arm around me and walked me over to the table her group had been occupying. I received several pats on the back as I sat, stunned and unsure as to what had just happened. Monster library guy ordered me a beer and introduced himself as Jake.

I told him my name, and he introduced me to all of the guys who were with them. I didn't think I could remember any of their names, let alone tell them apart. Bella squeezed my knee and smiled at me. Looking into her beautiful brown eyes, I was pretty sure I had died and gone to heaven.

At least I hoped I would remember _that _tomorrow…


	4. Chapter 4

**Dollybigmomma is my beta lover!**

**Follow Breathe of twilight and follow the countdown. My first one is chapter four. I have another that will be coming up soon as well as contributing to the collaborative story. **

**Chapter 4 - You're village called…They're missing their idiot**

**EDWARD**

I woke up back at my dorm, sprawled on my bed. My head was pounding, as I tried to remember what the heck had happened last night. I knew I had sat down with Bella at some point, and her friends kept handing me drinks. It all went blank after that. I cursed my stupid alcohol-impaired memory for having the nerve to forget a second I had spent with Bella.

I went to sit up and saw a bottle of water and a couple of pain pills on the table next to my bed. I wasn't sure who had put them there, but I took them and fell back on my bed. I realized my sheet was still missing, and I wanted to kill my stupid retarded monkey of a brother.

I let out a sigh, as I realized that if it hadn't been for him, I would never have felt Bella's lips on my stomach. I ran my hand over it, smiling as I remembered how she blew raspberries on me. I remembered being informed that that was the only kind of blowjob Bella gave, and she must have liked me to give it to me.

She liked me.

I smiled to myself.

I heard someone knock on the door, and I called for them to come in. My voice sounded like a half-dead old man. I was shocked when I saw a bright-eyed Bella open the door. She was carrying a bag that was dripping grease and smelled so good.

She pulled out a sandwich for herself and gave the bag to me. I sat up and scooted over, so she had a place to sit. I took out a homemade sausage, egg and cheese sandwich and moaned after I took a bite.

Why did her food taste so good?

When I opened my eyes, she was smiling at me.

"What? It's good," I said with a full mouth.

And then I heard it.

The most heavenly sound in the world.

She giggled.

It was soft and quiet, and she didn't open her mouth. I was pretty sure it had escaped against her will, but I loved that it had, and I made it my life's mission to make her do it again. She pointed to my bed, and I realized she was asking what happened to my sheet.

I blushed, "My stupid brother tied me up in it to get me to go to the club last night. It's probably still in his back seat."

She pouted and brushed my hair out of my eyes.

"I'm sorry he bugs you so much." It was habit for me to apologize for Emmett's behavior. I had been doing it all my life.

She shook her head no at me and kissed my cheek, letting me know not to worry about it. I couldn't help but blush again and decided to move further up the bed away from her, so I didn't accidently do anything to screw things up. We'd gone back to eating our sandwiches, when I looked at what was written on her shirt.

_'__**You're just jealous because the voices only speak to **__**ME**__**!**__'_

"No, I'd only be jealous if you spoke back to them," I mumbled before I could stop myself.

My eyes snapped up to her face as I paled. I couldn't believe I had said that out loud. I'd basically just said I would be jealous of anyone she would talk to, including imaginary voices.

She gave me a sweet smile, and then tapped her watch. I realized she was telling me it was time to go. I glanced at the clock and realized it was almost noon.

"Are you going to see Sweet-tooth Tom today?" I asked.

She smiled at me and nodded yes. I got up and grabbed another book for him off my shelf, trying to distract her from my stupidity.

"Can you give this to him? I'm sure he's probably done with the other book by now, and this is the next in the series," I said holding out a book from my collection.

She smiled and nodded okay. Then she made a motion with the book, pulling it back and then moving it toward me.

"You're going to bring the other book back for me?"

She nodded yes.

"Okay, but only if he's done with it, no need to rush him," I said. She nodded okay and slipped out the door.

Later that night, Emmett was running up and down the dorm hallways, wearing _my_ sheet. It was Saturday night, and there were parties raging. I was so busy glaring at Emmett that I didn't notice Bella coming up, until she was right next to me. I startled when she grabbed my arm. My heart didn't slow, as I made eye contact with her.

"Hey," was all my brain could manage to push out.

She held up the book she had gotten back from Tom.

"I'll bet he enjoyed it," I said. She smiled and nodded yes.

By that point, my idiot brother had started making loud gorilla sounds and jumping around the hallway making girls squeal as he passed them. Why they liked him, I'd never know.

Bella raised an eyebrow at him, and I said, "Don't ask me. I'm pretty sure Mom dropped him on his head as an infant."

I heard it again. It was faint and difficult to hear over the ruckus going on in the hall, but I heard it.

She giggled.

I loved it.

My brother started whipping my sheet around, and I grimaced. Bella gave me a worried look, asking what was wrong.

"That's my sheet," I confessed. "He's gotten it completely filthy, and he's going to end up ripping it. I don't have another one here right now."

She smirked and then slipped away from me. I wondered where the hell she was going. _Was she leaving me?_ I wanted her to come back. My eyes found her next to Emmett, and I froze. I silently prayed that my stupid brother didn't mess this up for me. He had the sheet all twisted up and had managed to hook her into it. To my amazement, Bella did a cartwheel, twisting the sheet around her waist.

My brother was hooting and hollering at her antics, as were the rest of the male population. She jumped up, rolling over his shoulder, pulling the sheet up by his neck. She used her leg and did some crazy circus contortionist move, making all the guys go nuts, as one of her legs moved the sheet so that it was around Emmett's neck, and she was behind him. Suddenly, she pulled back and was choking my stupid brother with the sheet.  
It took him a moment to realize he would be fine if he'd just let go of the sheet. He did, and she pulled it away from him and walked off, smirking and waving the end of the sheet at me, smiling.

She was almost to me, and I was trying my damndest not to fall on the ground laughing at my brother's confused look, when some guy grabbed her and stopped her. I found myself rushing forward to save her. She gave him a look that said, 'Really? You're going to bother me after that?' The guy was obviously drunk, and stupid. She just shook her head no at him and pushed him back. He stumbled easily away from her, and she turned to head back to me, only to find me standing in front of her, looking down at her worried.

She rolled her eyes, as if telling me I was silly for being worried. She took off my sheet and handed it to me, then hooked her arm in mine and pulled me through the crowd. I had no idea where she was taking me, but I really didn't care.

I would follow her anywhere.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you…**

**EDWARD**

Bella took me out to the parking lot and stopped in front of a big old red truck. She hopped in the driver's side, and then she waited for me to climb in.

"Is this thing safe?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes and started up the truck. It made such a loud roar, I literally jumped. My wussy reaction was totally worth it, because I heard it again.

That giggle; the most beautiful sound in the world.

It made me wonder how her voice would sound. I was sure it would be just as heavenly.

"Is there a reason you drive a behemoth?" I asked.

She gave me a mock look of offense and made a "mwuah" kissing sound and motion, as if she'd just had some awesome Italian food. Apparently, she loved her truck.

"Right, it's a classic," I teased.

She whacked me playfully.

I was surprised when she pulled up in front of an apartment building and grabbed my sheet off of the seat. She motioned for me to follow, so I did.

Like I said, I would follow her anywhere.

She waved to several people on her way to what I found out was her apartment. She took off with my sheet somewhere, as I stood awkwardly in the living room. I heard a washer start up and realized she was washing my sheet for me.

Wow, she really was my dream girl; she cooked _and_ did laundry.

I looked around and saw some pictures of her and Jake on a bookshelf. They looked much younger in some of them. I also noticed a man dressed in a police uniform and a man dressed in Native American-type clothing.

_Did she go to some Village People concert or something?_

Then I noticed another picture with the police dude, but Bella looked much younger. She was holding up a fish. She looked adorable.

I was brought out of my thoughts by her phone ringing, and I wondered how on earth would she handle talking on the phone when she didn't talk? It rang several more times, but she didn't appear. I wondered where she had gone.

Then I heard it.

"Hey, you've reached the mother ship, please press one for probing. If you're looking for your brain, we didn't find one in your head, either. All others…please leave a message."

It was a woman's voice, and it sounded beautiful, humorous and full of life. I was dying to know if it was hers. I hoped it was hers, so I could be one of the few people in the world who had heard it.

The machine beeped, and a voice I recognized as Jake's started talking. "Hey, chica, I see you changed your message. Don't be surprised if Quil calls you and hits one repeatedly. You were asking for it, offering to probe like that."

I think I squealed like a giddy little girl, when I heard it was her voice. Jake went on, talking about some bonfire down at the beach tonight. I was tempted to erase the message, because I wanted her to spend the evening with me, not him, but I didn't. He gave her directions, and I wondered if I could show up and say I had just been passing through…

Probably not.

I was frowning at the phone, when she walked out. I could feel her enter the room. She had showered and changed. She was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with another funny caption.

_**'**__**Friendship is like peeing on yourself…everyone can see it, but only you can feel it'**_

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. "Classic, Bella. I love it!" I said pointing to her shirt.

She smiled widely at me.

She hadn't noticed the message light blinking on her phone, and I decided not to say anything. If she missed the message on her own and spent the evening with me instead of at the beach, that wasn't bad, right? I mean, it wasn't as if I'd erased it.

I heard a buzzing sound, and she disappeared again. I guessed she was putting my sheet in the dryer. She came back rather quickly this time. I was happy not to be left alone in the living room, even though I was enjoying my snooping. She motioned for me to follow her to the kitchen, and I did so quickly, eager to see where all the magic happened.

It was a little galley kitchen, and we both barely fit in it. She grabbed some plastic grocery bags from a weird cloth bag thingy hanging upside down. She opened her cabinets and pulled out several bags of chips. Once they were packed up, she handed them to me and shooed me away.

"You want me to put these in the truck?" I asked.

She nodded yes.

I ran out to her truck and put the bags in and hurried back in, eager to return to her. When I got back, she had pulled out a large container. I realized it was probably a storage container, but she dumped several bags of salad into it, and then she diced some tomatoes and stuff into it super fast. As proficient as she was with a knife, she could have been one of those hibachi chefs or something, and I told her that.

She giggled again, and I loved it.

She pulled out another large container just as big as the first, and it was full of potato salad. She paused and quickly pulled out her cell phone. She was texting someone, and I wondered why the potato salad was a reason for her to be texting. A minute later, her phone chimed, and she smiled. She handed me the potato salad and stacked the salad on top. She grabbed a bag she had loaded with several bottles of dressing for the salad and walked out of the kitchen. I followed her because, really, what else was I supposed to do.

She stopped in front of her telephone. I blushed as I realized she knew that I knew about the message. She raised an eyebrow at me, and I swallowed hard, half expecting her to yell at me, but of course, Bella wouldn't yell, now would she.

She hit the play button, and once she got the directions, she motioned for me to follow her out to the truck. She headed back towards campus, the opposite way of the directions. I felt like a stupid idiot for not telling her about the message, since she already knew about it. I had ticked her off, and it looked like she was going to drop me off at my dorm, and I would never see her again. What was usually a comfortable silence between us was killing me now. I burst out, nearly shouting at her, when I couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry, alright. I'm so sorry. I just wanted to spend more time with you, so I thought if I didn't tell you about the message, I could hang out with you a little longer. Please, don't hate me," I begged like the wussy I was.

She surprised me by pulling over and parking her truck. I was afraid she was going to shove me out the door, but was even more afraid when she crawled across the seat towards me.

I covered my nuts.

She smirked at me and kissed my cheek, and then went back to her side of the truck and honked a familiar tune out on her truck horn. I looked out the windows and realized we were at the park by the library, and a few of the regular guys were heading our way. Bella rolled her window down and waved to them, pointing for them to get in the back of the truck. She hopped out and pulled out some blankets from under her seat and passed them to the men. There were about ten of them crammed tightly into the back of the truck, including Sweet-tooth Tom and Joe. They both waved to me, and I was actually happy to see them and waved back.

A couple more guys came running up, and she was able to squeeze one more into the back, but there wasn't room for the other one, and he looked sadly at her. "It's okay, honey, I don't have to go."

She rolled her eyes at him and brought him over to the passenger side door. I scooted over to make room, and the guy got in, holding his pack in his lap. Bella hopped in her truck, and everyone cheered as she started it up.

The men in the back of the truck started singing loudly; some song that I could only describe as a sea shanty, and I found myself joining in with the encouragement of Mac, the guy sitting next to me. I could see Bella smiling widely at me, and she swayed with Mac and me as we sang.

When we arrived at the beach, I heard a loud howling and saw Jake charging the truck with his buddies right behind him. They all helped the men out of the back of the truck and carried the food Bella had brought down to the beach, where a huge bonfire was roaring.

Several guys yelled, "Hey, Eddie to beddie." I just waved nervously, confused.

Jake patted my shoulder. "Dude, you were freaking awesome drunk. They're hoping for a repeat performance, especially since you have a designated driver."

I blushed and panicked a little, wondering what the hell I had done last night. Bella walked up and hip-checked Jake.

"Oh, come on, Bells. We were just having some fun."

She put an arm around me and looked at him sternly.

"Fine, I'll keep them on their best behavior, but you owe me, chica." She raised an eyebrow at him and jerked her chin in the direction of a guy sitting with the police dude.

He flinched. "Geez, don't bring that up. _Man_, that's not cool. Fine, I still owe you, I still owe you," he said panicking. I wondered if that was his dad. She smiled and then hugged him.

"Yeah, yeah, girly, you still have me wrapped around your little finger." He hugged her back and kissed the top of her head.

"Take care of my girl, Eddie, or we'll break you up and feed you to the fishes," he said sternly punching me in the shoulder.

I flinched back, and he laughed. "Just kidding, dude, Bella can beat your ass all on her own. Watch yourself, man; and don't give her tequila, or someone will wake up missing a tooth." He shook his head, smiling at a memory. Bella shoved him, he walked away laughing, and I noticed she was smiling after him as he left. That must have been a fun memory they shared.

I knew right then I wanted memories of my own with her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Dollybigmomma is my beta lover. She rocks like usual.**

**Chapter 6 – **_**'**__**Friendship is like peeing on yourself…everyone can see it, but only you can feel it'**_

**EDWARD**

If I'd thought Bella's goons were rowdy last night, I was sadly mistaken. It seemed on their home turf, they were freaking insane, and that was really saying something, since we had just come from a party where my brother had been acting like a gorilla.

As we got closer to the fire, you could see they were all doing flips around it, hooting and howling. From what I could tell, there was no beer, so I couldn't explain their behavior.

Someone yelled, "Daddy wants her!"

Bella patted my shoulder and stepped away. I was about to stop her and beg her not to leave me with these crazy people, because I was such a baby. Suddenly, she was lifted up. My mouth fell open as I watched. She was doing an acrobatic version of people surfing. By the end, she was standing on some guy's shoulders, as if it was nothing. Police dude was waiting for her, and she jumped into his arms.

They were both smiling widely. I realized he was her daddy, as someone had called out before they stole her. I watched as Bella and her dad walked over to his chair. He kissed her temple before sitting down. She gave a disappointed look at his plate, and then she pointed to the salad on the food table. He gave her an 'ah, come on' look in return and motioned to the fire. Did her dad not talk, either?

Holy cow, this family was weird!

She finally conceded with a silent eye roll. He pulled her into his lap and passed her a chicken leg. She smiled that smile she had when she laughed and took it. Then he leaned in and said something in her ear. She turned to him, and I would swear I saw her lips move! She was whispering something back to him!

He gave her a worried look.

She stood up and caught Jake's attention. She pointed to me and made a come here motion, and I think I might have peed myself a little in terror.

"Eddie to beddie!" the guys started shouting. Before I could turn and run, one grabbed me and lifted me with embarrassing ease. "Eddie to beddie! Eddie to beddie!" they chanted, as I was rolled over the crowd.

The last guy tried to drop me on my feet, but I was so dizzy, it didn't work. Bella and her dad caught me by my shoulders, and I tried to gain control of my eyes as they darted around, keeping me from being upright. When they were finally focused, I could see Bella's annoyed face scowling at the last guy, who was shrugging at her, and her dad was glaring at me.

Jake came up and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, Charlie; it sounds way worse than it actually is. Edward is candy with your girl."

If I thought not talking was confusing, it had nothing on that last statement Jake made. Candy? What the hell did that mean?

"Ain't that right, Eddie to beddie," Jake said patting my shoulder.

Her dad was still glaring at me, and if he didn't stop, I was going to crap my pants. "I'm sorry! I swear I didn't touch her. They just pulled me over to their group last night and kept handing me drinks, and I was too scared to turn them down. There were so many, and they're so huge, Sir!" I defended. "I swear, I woke up alone and fully-clothed in my own bed," I promised.

Bella heard my rambling and shoved her dad.

He gave her a 'what?' look, as if he was being completely innocent. She just rolled her eyes and shook her head at him. Bella put an arm around me and touched my chest, and then she motioned to her father, as if she was introducing me. I took the cue.

"I'm Edward Cullen."

He gave me a tight smile and a nod, before he pointed to the silver nameplate on his uniformed chest.

_'Chief Charles Swan_,' was engraved on it. "Police Chief Swan," his voice was deep and threatening. Bella gave him a little shove.

"Nice to meet you, Chief Swan," my voice cracked. I held out my hand. He looked at it for a moment then finally conceded to shake it. He looked at the rowdy group raging behind me and then patted my shoulder. He led me over to the other man I recognized from Bella's pictures.

He stood up and spoke. "Hello, and welcome to the reservation. I'm Chief Black, but most people just call me Billy."

I reached out to shake his hand, "I'm Edward Cullen."

Billy looked at my hand, and I quickly wondered if I had made some mistake in protocol; technically, he was like Native American royalty. I quietly pulled my hand back and apologized.

He let out a loud laugh and put his arm around me. "I'm just messing with you, kid."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

He turned me to the rowdy crowd and pointed to Jake, who was standing on his hands, with some guy standing on Jake's feet high in the air, jumping.

"That pup there is my boy, Jacob. I believe you've already met him."

I nod my head yes at him.

"Right now, he's demonstrating how he can be a strong foundation for the tribe, once it's his time to be Chief," Billy explained.

I watched with awe as he flipped around, catching other tribe members in midair with his hands and feet and, well, everywhere his body would allow. He never let one of them fall, always keeping the tribe's men up in the air, never missing as they were passed to him, then passed along.

Their rowdiness didn't seem so rowdy anymore.

Billy patted my shoulder. "See, I knew you'd get it."

"Yeah, I do, it's amazing."

He smiled at me, and then turned to Chief Swan. "I like this one, Charlie. I think we should keep him."

Chief Swan shocked me by speaking almost cordially. "We'll see," he answered him shortly.

Bella was smiling widely.

Billy moved to go welcome the men Bella had brought with us, leaving her dad and me with Bella. She came over and hugged me and left her arm around me.

I slowly and carefully put my arm around her, holding her to my side. I looked down at her, trying to gauge her reaction, and she smiled up at me. I relaxed and smiled, as she accepted my touch, but my face blushed at my own insecurity and the kindness in her eyes.

I looked up at the crowd, only to see Chief Swan watching us. He gave me a half smile of acceptance that I quickly returned with a goofy smile of my own. I couldn't help it. I was feeling giddy. Bella had let me put my arm around her!

I had a feeling that hearing Chief Swan speak was rare. That like Bella, he didn't speak often, and him letting me hear his voice was his way of accepting me.

At least that was what I was hoping.


	7. Chapter 7

**Dollybigmomma is my Beta Queen!**

**Chapter 7 - **_**Boys make good pets.**_

**EDWARD**

The rest of the evening was pretty fun. We ate and stomped and clapped to the antics Jake and his "pack" would do. Everyone was kind and welcoming. I did notice that Bella would speak softly to her father and to Jake's dad, Billy, when she was spoken to, and I wondered if I asked her something if she would lean in and whisper the answer in my ear.

I doubted it, though, as she seemed to be very close with Jake, but never said a word to him. Of course, he easily filled the silence for her. With him, she didn't need to talk. He always seemed to know what she was saying, even without using words. It made me jealous, and I tried to brush it off as them having grown up together, but I ended up being jealous of his history with her as well.

Everyone helped load the men back into the truck, and I heard Sweet-tooth Tom wheezing as he walked toward the truck. I hurried to him and put my arm around him, helping him to the truck. I led him around to the passenger side and helped him get in.

"Let me check you out when we get back, okay?" I told Tom

"Check what out?" he asked.

"Well, I'm studying to be a doctor, and from what I can tell from your breathing, you're having pulmonary problems. I'd like to get my stethoscope and take a listen if you don't mind."

I told Bella what I wanted to do, and she agreed, dropping off the other men at the park and then going to the dorm. It was three o'clock in the morning, and the whole thing was locked up tight. I felt stupid for not thinking ahead. I leaned my head against the gate, and suddenly my phone chimed. I jumped, pulling it out of my pocket.

It was Jasper texting me, wondering what the hell I was doing pouting at the locked gate with a hot chick and a bum. I quickly texted him back, saying that I needed to get my black medical bag from my room. He told me to go by my window. I did and watched it light up and open.

He hung out of it and yelled, "Go long!"

Before I could protest, he chucked it over the fence and long past where I was standing. I turned to try and chase after it, only to be shocked by Bella's lithe form flying smoothly after it, leaping into the air and catching it with ease. I stood there, stunned and gaping at her, as she walked gracefully over to me, as if she had not just committed the most beautiful catch I had ever seen.

"You should play ball," I said stupidly, wondering what the heck had happened to my brain filter. She smiled at me and then gripped my bag the way you would a football.

"You play football?" I asked shocked.

She nodded her head yes and led me to her truck without a backwards glance, as if it were completely normal for a college chick to play football.

We pulled up to her apartment, and I grabbed Tom's pack for him, not wanting him to pass out. Bella pointed Tom toward the shower, which he thanked her for profusely. Once he was showered and shaved, Bella took his clothes and threw them in the washer, as I pulled out my bag. I wasn't a doctor yet, but when I announced my major to my dad, he ran out and bought me a doctor's bag, complete with equipment and a little nameplate that had _Dr. Edward A. Cullen_ engraved on it.

Needless to say, my dad was thrilled I was following in his footsteps. My grandfather nearly threw a party, but my grandmother put a stop to it. She wasn't the type to celebrate…well…anything.

There was a thick crackling in Tom's lungs, letting me know he had a lot of fluid in them. I felt his throat that was obviously swollen. "How long have you been sick, Tom?"

He let out a chuckle. "When haven't I been? It's not like sleeping outside is conducive to getting better."

I frowned and then saw Bella's worried face.

"Do you have some decongestant, maybe some Nyquil? His chest is badly congested. I'm worried he may have a lung infection." I turned to Tom. "Do you mind if I take you in to see my father tomorrow? He has a practice not far from here."

He looked up at Bella, who was nodding her head yes.

"Okay, thanks."

Bella put a pillow on the couch and encouraged him to lie down and tucked him in. He smiled up at her, when she kissed his forehead. I sat next to him and took his blood pressure a couple of times, making sure he was alright. He had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. I sat watching over him for a while, wondering if it was normal to worry so much about a patient. Then I realized Tom was more than just a patient, he was my friend, and he was important to Bella. She would be crushed if anything happened to him.

I had to help him.

Those were my last thoughts, as I started falling asleep in the chair next to Tom. I felt a warm hand on my cheek and then another on my other cheek, then soft lips coaxing me to open my eyes. Bella was smiling softly down at me; concern filled her eyes, as she looked at the blood pressure cuff I had left on Tom's arm.

"Oh, he's fine. Well, he will be once I get him to my dad, but for now, he's resting and warm, and that's good," I tried to reassure her.

She smiled sincerely, taking my hand and pulling me up from my chair. I was wondering where I was going, worried she was going to kick me out. But instead of leading me to the door, she led me down the little hall past her bathroom to her bedroom. I stood nervously, tugging on the end of my shirt. She flipped down the blanket and patted her bed.

"Oh, no, I can't take your bed, Bella. You go ahead and get some rest. I'm fine in the chair." I made a mental note to get her an overstuffed recliner for her living room, because that wooden contemporary crap I had been sitting on was painful at best.

She rolled her eyes at me and shoved me back on her bed. When I fell back, my feet kicked up, and she caught one in her hand and started taking my shoes off.

I was silently praying I wouldn't sport wood. I was fighting it off as best I could. She had both my shoes off, and then she reached for my belt. I was shocked and started stuttering, but not making any words. She kissed my lips softly and stepped away from me, leaving me feeling like a complete idiot. She walked over to her closet, opening it. She grabbed a tank top and some boxers. I thought she'd go out or send me out or something, but she just whipped off her shirt. Even with her back to me, I couldn't stop my body's reaction to her. I whimpered a little.

Yeah, there was a reason I was still a virgin.

Then she unhooked her bra, and I made a choking sound, as I desperately tried to gasp for air that just refused to fill my lungs. She slipped the tank top on, and it did not escape my notice that she did not put a bra on. I watched as she moved her hips, swaying back and forth, as she slid her jeans down. I was pretty sure I was on the verge of cardiac arrest at that point. Her little black boy shorts clung to her curves, and I wanted to be a gentleman and look away, but my eyes were stuck.

She stepped into the boxers and turned around, taking in my frantically shaking, geeky form on her bed. She smiled and shook her head at me. She walked over to me and pulled my shirt off over my head and tossed it aside in the pile of clothes on her floor. I was breathing so hard, my whole body was heaving. My mouth was open wide, but for some reason, air just wouldn't fill my lungs! _Where the heck was all the air?_

She pushed me back on the bed, and I began stuttering again, making no coherent words. I didn't even know what the hell I was trying to say. She undid my belt, whipping it off my hips, and my eyes widened in shock. To my dismay, I started making a squeaky whining noise, as I gasped for air. She undid my pants, working them off my hips as she leaned over my body. I think I might have started crying. I closed my eyes, too embarrassed to look at her face. I knew she'd see I was sporting a huge woody for her.

God help me.

Once my jeans were gone, she climbed up my body, kissed my cheek, and pulled the blankets over us. She curled up next to me, as if it was nothing. As if she weren't inappropriately dressed, with me practically naked laying next to her with a monster woody that was…

I glanced down to see if it was…

Yup, it was pitching a major tent under her blanket.

How could she ignore that?

I heard a soft snore come from her, and I knew she was sound asleep. My body finally started to relax. Once my breathing was back to normal, I was able to look at her calmly. I smiled; on her shirt, across her beautifully buoyant breasts, was the most mischievous phrase that seemed to fit her.

_**Keep smiling; it makes people wonder what you're up to…**_

I looked up at her face, and sure enough, she was smiling in her sleep. She looked so beautiful, as her long lashes rested against her pink cheeks. I was exhausted, but I fought sleep off as long as I could, because I didn't want to stop watching her next to me.

I didn't know if I would ever get a chance like this again, and I was determined to savor every moment.


	8. Chapter 8

**Dollybigmomma is awesome and is also a beta, not to mention she is an awesome beta, she's just awesome all around.**

**Chapter 8 - ****Don't follow me... I'm lost, too.**

**EDWARD**

Something smelled really, really good. Actually, a lot of things smelled good. There was a sweet smell of vanilla and strawberry surrounding me, and then bacon and coffee.

_Mmm, bacon coffee, that would be yummy. I should patent that. Oh, or I could sell it to Starbucks. Who needed breakfast, when you could have bacon coffee? Mmm, so good._ This was an awesome dream with awesome coffee.

The wonderful smell seemed to get stronger, but then it was pushed out of the way by that sweet strawberry vanilla, that would be yummy, too. I licked my lips and then felt a warm body move next to me. I didn't want to open my eyes, because I liked this yummy dream, but the pressure put on my hips was undeniable.

My eyes popped open, as Bella leaned down and kissed my jaw. I moaned involuntarily, because I was still a wussy. She sat up and pointed to a tray of food next to me. It included a giant cup of coffee.

"Bacon coffee," I blurted out like the idiot I was. She got an amused look, then picked up a piece of bacon and stirred the coffee with it. She put that end of the bacon in my mouth, and it tasted heavenly. She bit the other end, and I was so distracted by the bacon that I didn't notice what she was doing, until her lips crashed into mine.

I moaned loudly, trying to breathe and swallow, all while attempting to kiss her. Unfortunately, I was not talented enough to do more than one thing with my mouth at a time, and I completely embarrassed myself by choking on the bacon. I sat up quickly with her help, and I was able to clear my esophagus with coughing.

"Sorry," I said softly, blushing furiously. I was sure even my toes were red. "Good bacon," I offered weakly, and then she did it.

She giggled, and it made all my stupidity completely worth it.

I couldn't fight the smile that enveloped my face. "I love hearing you laugh," I whispered, half hoping she didn't hear me.

And then she did it.

She put her hand in my hair and kissed me deeply. I could feel it all throughout my body. I was gasping and whimpering, but I refused to stop. I gently put my hand on her back to encourage her, but I didn't push her. I was still terrified she would get upset if I touched her.

She grabbed my hand and carefully moved it up her waist, getting closer to her breast. I had never touched a breast. My body was freaking out. I was sure I was having a heart attack, and there was absolutely no air reaching my lungs. I was stuttering like an idiot, and God only knew what I was trying to say.

And then she did it.

She put my hand on her soft breast, and I completely lost it. No, I didn't go crazy. I meant my eyes rolled into the back of my head, and I jizzed all over myself.

I felt like crying, because I was so freaking embarrassed. I looked up at her, and her eyes were not looking at me in disgust. They were soft and kind and she leaned in, kissing my cheek up to my ear, and then I heard it.

"Edward," she whispered in the most heavenly voice ever. The answering machine didn't do her justice. "It's okay, Edward, just relax."

I wondered if she knew that I had just splooged in my shorts. She didn't slow her assault on my neck. I tried to do as she said, but relaxing just wasn't happening. _Oh, God, what if she didn't know what I had done? What if she was kissing me and then found the nasty mess in my shorts?_ I was so going to die. She was going to kill me for being a sick bastard.

I didn't ever want to give her up, but I was so upset by the prospect of her finding out I was a sicko with soiled short, that my eyes started to water.

She kissed a tear from my cheek. "What's wrong?" she asked so softly I almost missed it.

"I don't want you to hate me. I don't want you to kick me out," I sniffled out.

"Oh, my sweet boy," she leaned down and kissed me softly. "Why on earth would you think that?"

I became a stuttering fool again, trying to answer her. "I…n-n-n-never…I…h-h-h-haven't…" I cringed, "I…d-d-d-don't…" I couldn't get the words in order, and my brain wasn't helping me organize my thoughts, either. I gasped, making a honking goose sound and glanced down to see that my jizz was leaking through my shorts. I cringed again, letting out a whimper. I finally got out, "Sorry."

She was silent, but I felt her hands move down my body. She paused by my belly button, and then I felt her move off the bed. I was ready for her to kill me now. I'd gotten to kiss her and hear her voice, so I was ready to die.

Then I felt it.

A warm wet washcloth was pressed into my stomach. My confused eyes met her patient ones. She passed me the rag and then pulled out another pair of boxer shorts for me to wear and left the room.

When I stepped out of her room, cleaned up and dressed, she gave me a soft smile. Her eyes didn't judge me or look disgusted. She reached out and took my hand tentatively, as if testing it. I squeezed it, thankful for the contact. That was all it took for her to pull me into her arms and kiss me. She was amazing.

I was curious what her shirt said today, hoping for some more insight of her mood.

_**I wondered why the Frisbee was coming closer, and then it hit me.**_

She bumped my shoulder, when she noticed me looking at her shirt. I hoped she didn't mistake my interest in her shirt as ogling her breasts. "That's…" I cleared my throat and laughed nervously, "Your shirt's..."

Her grin was wide, "Let's go check on Tom."

She pulled me down the hallway, and we both stopped at the sight of the pale-faced man lying on the couch. I noticed his lips had a tinge of blue, so I called my father immediately. I was lucky, as he answered on the second ring.

"Edward, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Hey, Dad, I have a friend of mine here that doesn't have insurance, and he's really sick. His lungs are full of fluid, and his oxygen levels have to be too low. He's pale with a tinge of blue around his mouth.

"Well, good heavens, Edward, what are you talking to me for? Get him down here!"

"Thanks, Dad."

I nodded to Bella, letting her know we were good to go and went to wake Tom. He was burning up and not responding. I finally lifted him over my shoulder and carried him fireman-style to the truck.

I saw tears in Bella's eyes. I kissed her cheek and pushed her over in the seat so she could hold onto Tom, while I drove to my dad's clinic at the hospital. I hopped out and got a wheelchair for Tom, setting him in it carefully. My dad had oxygen waiting at the door and immediately put it on him. I kissed Bella's forehead and nodded towards the waiting room. She looked worriedly after me, but did as I asked.

"So, what's your initial diagnosis?" my father asked.

"I would presume pneumonia. But he used to smoke, so it could be something more serious. The fever indicates an infection of some type. We should treat the infection to stabilize him, so we can see if there are any underlying issues."

"Excellent assessment, Son."

My dad pulled out a syringe. "Do you know if he's allergic to any antibiotics?"

"No, I don't. I should've asked him last night." I moved to his head. "Tom? Hey, buddy, can you tell me if you're allergic to antibiotics?" His eyes fluttered a little before opening. "Tom, are you allergic to anything?"

"No," a soft gasp came out.

I smiled reassuringly. "We're going to give you a shot that'll help you feel better. You rest now. You'll feel much better the next time you wake up."

He smiled and nodded his head.

I helped my dad give Tom the shot. It was a wicked strong antibiotic, and I hoped it would kick whatever infection it was that was making Tom so sick. I really wanted to have good news for Bella.

"We can do the chest X-ray while he's sleeping. We'll have a room ready for him when we're done. You want to give me a hand?"

I readily agreed and put Tom's oxygen tank under his bed and helped my dad push it down the hall towards radiology. I helped him slide the board under Tom's back for the contrast shot, and the x-ray tech adjusted his machine. I think we were all worried that Tom didn't move or complain the whole time. He just lay there unconscious.

We took Tom back to his room, and my dad called me into his office. He had a sad smile on his face. "Son, Tom does have a bad case of pneumonia, but I've found something else on his films." He put the films up on the light board behind his desk. "Can you tell me what you see?"

I saw the fluid in his cloudy lungs, but the bottom half of his right lung was completely dark.

"He smoked," I said to no one. I stared at the ground. I knew what this meant. "Is it…? Can you treat it?" I asked afraid.

"Well, chemo is very expensive and uncomfortable. What I can do is see if your friend wants me to go in and remove the cancerous part of his lung. Then we can run a few tests and see if we got it all. Hopefully, since he's changed his way of life for the better, we'll be able to prolong his time on earth for a while longer."

I just nodded, too upset to speak.

A nurse interrupted us to let us know that Tom was waking up. We went in, and my dad explained everything. Tom was about to turn down the surgery, but I begged that he please do it for Bella. His face softened, and he agreed. I asked if I could tell her about his condition, and he gave me the okay.

My dad ordered preparations for Tom's surgery, and I went to the waiting room to find a teary-eyed Bella. She jumped up and ran to me, and I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it came out as a grimace.

I pulled her to a quiet corner of the waiting room and explained everything that was going on with Tom. I told her we needed to find him a place he could stay for the next six weeks, while he recovered from the surgery.

She shook her head at me, and for the first time, I wasn't sure what she was saying. She pulled out her cell phone and started texting like a mad woman. Whoever she was texting was texting back instantly and was upsetting her. She looked like she was about to throw her phone, so I grabbed it from her hand. I saw the text was from Jake. He was insisting that Tom stay with him, not her. I understood his concern for her. I didn't want to take sides, though, so I stayed silent.

Instead, I just held her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 - ****Doctors says I have Multiple Personalities. **_**We disagree with that.**_

**EDWARD**

Carlisle came into the waiting room smiling. I stood up to meet him, startling Bella, but then she realized a doctor had walked in.

"It looks like we got all of it. I make no guarantees, but I'm pretty confident. It was a nice solid mass, a beautiful tumor, really. Would you like to see it, Son? I have it in my office, so I can have some tests run on it."

"Yeah, that'd be awesome." I eagerly made to follow, when Bella grabbed my arm with a look that was a mixture of panic and disgust.

I couldn't help laughing.

My dad noticed I wasn't following anymore and smiled when he saw my panicking Bella.

"Edward, who is this?" he asked smiling. My dad knew I didn't hang out with girls or anyone, really. I think it surprised him to see me with my arm around Bella. I had to say it surprised me, too.

"Bella, this is my dad, Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Dad, this is Bella Swan, my…uh..." I was at a loss. She was more to me than any girl, and we had yet to define our relationship. "My Bella?" I finished trying to hide my insecurities.

Then Bella did the most shocking thing.

"Hello, Dr. Cullen, I'm Edward's girlfriend," she winked at me. "Thanks so much for helping our friend, Tom."

"No problem at all, my dear. You really must come by the house. I'm sure my wife, Esme, will be thrilled to meet you. Edward has been a bit of a late bloomer, had us a little worried, but his focus has benefited him academically. We saw no need to distract him."

I was completely mortified.

Bella smiled and then said, "Better late than never," causing my dad to laugh and pat my shoulder firmly.

Tom was going to have to stay a few days in the hospital, giving Bella time to set up her apartment. We sat silently, as I mulled over in my head how to tell her I understood why Jacob was worried.

Finally, I blurted out, "I get it."

She raised an eyebrow at me in question, wondering what the heck I was talking about.

"Jake's freaking out over Tom. I get it. As a guy, it's very easy to feel protective of you," I rubbed my neck nervously. "I know Tom will be in no shape to do anything to hurt you, nor do I think he'd want to, but I get it. I get why Jake is nervous about it," I shrugged, letting out a breath.

I felt her hand on my arm and she smiled.

We pulled up in front of a little clapboard house about an hour from town. She honked her horn and hopped out of the truck. Her father stepped out on the porch and smiled when he saw her. She ran up and jumped into his arms. You wouldn't know that they had just seen each other by the way they hugged. You would have thought it had been years, but I was learning with Bella, actions spoke louder than words. What she was saying right now was I love you to her dad, and he was saying it back.

I walked up slowly, not wanting to interrupt them, but Chief Swan stepped back and patted my shoulder and shook my hand. "Good to see you," he said gruffly. I didn't miss how he patted the gun on his hip.

I smiled nervously and squeaked, "Thanks." His home was small and cozy. There were several pictures of Bella all over. I pointed out an adorable one to Bella, and she rolled her eyes at me, grinned and kissed my cheek in return.

She pulled me into the kitchen, where her dad was looking at a newspaper. When Bella opened the refrigerator door, he looked up and cringed. Bella gave him the 'what the hell, Dad' look, pointing to the contents of the refrigerator, or should I say the lack thereof.

She shook her head in disapproval, and he shrugged in response. She opened his freezer and pulled out a couple of fish, setting them in the sink to thaw. Then she grabbed an apron and tied it on before going into the pantry for some pasta.

I read the words scrawled across the apron, _"When all else fails, add marshmallows?"_

She grabbed a can of yams and then pointed to the word marshmallows on her apron with a duh look on her face. I just shook my head laughing.

"Point made," I whispered, because it seemed my regular speaking voice would be too loud. She smiled, putting the can back and then motioned for me to take a seat. Chief Swan slid a section of newspaper over to me, and so I took it.

My eyes couldn't focus enough to read, though. They kept being pulled back to Bella. Could you blame them? My girl was hot. Then I smiled internally, not only had she spoken with ease to my dad, but also called herself my girlfriend.

I really, really liked the sound of that.

Suddenly, I felt someone kick my leg. I startled and looked over at Chief Swan, realizing I was staring at his daughter with a huge goofy grin on my face. I blushed, ashamed that I had been caught.

I heard him chuckle.

Then Bella whacked him with a dishtowel for picking on me. He gave her an innocent 'What, I didn't do anything' look. She rolled her eyes, not buying it.

Then she did the craziest thing.

She sat in my lap, right in front of her dad!

I gasped, and because I was such a girl, I nearly fainted in fear. Did she not realize HER DAD CARRIED A GUN?

I looked at his face panicked. He just shook his head and spoke one word. "Candy."

I wondered what the hell that meant.

I looked up at Bella, and she just kissed my cheek. "Relax, baby," she whispered in my ear. I was sure the look on my face was that of pain and adoration. Her voice was so beautiful, I wanted to do as she said, but I feared it would be impossible. She ran her fingers through my hair and kissed my forehead. When she got up off my lap, my eyes darted to her father, who seemed to be smirking.

She truly was going to be the death of me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Dollybigmomma beta's this mess. Thank you!**

**Chapter 10 - We're so cool **_**ice cubes**_** are jealous.**

**EDWARD**

I continued to sit there with Charlie, hoping he didn't suddenly get the urge for a little target practice every time he caught me glancing at Bella, as she fixed dinner for us. We all ate quietly, but both her dad and I smiled and hummed with pleasure. Bella was an amazing cook. No, my girlfriend was an amazing cook. Yeah, I might have had a giddy smile on my face when I had that thought.

I was such a cheese ball.

After the dishes were cleaned up, Bella took my hand and started leading me upstairs. I looked back at Chief Swan, hoping he wasn't following with his gun. He just nodded for me to follow her, but again tapped the gun on his belt. We were definitely leaving the door open.

Her room was very her, but very teenaged still. It had bright orange walls, and there was a big bubble in yellow on the wall, and inside it was another one of her funny phrases.

_**I'm not random. You just can't think as fast as I do.**_

"Nice," I said motioning to it. "Way to make a guy feel welcomed," I teased.

She rolled her eyes at me. Then she flashed a mischievous smirk. She shoved me back on the little daybed, straddling me. She kissed me, and I was kissing her back. That was, until I heard boots clomping loudly up the stairs.

I pushed her back, worried about Charlie. She just rolled her eyes, shaking her head at me and then pulled me off the bed.

We had gotten up just in time. Chief Swan stepped into her doorway, letting us know he was close by and ready to interrupt us at any moment. His fingers drummed on his gun again, and he raised his eyebrow at me in challenge.

He was about to leave us, when Bella stopped him, "Dad." He turned around, waiting for her to tell him what she wanted. She pulled a trundle bed out from under her bed, "Can I take this?"

He shrugged, not caring if she took it. She pointed at me to grab the mattress, so I flopped it on my back and headed out the door. Her dad grabbed the frame, and we piled both into the back of her truck. She kissed her dad's cheek, and then he shook my hand. "It was nice seeing you again, Edward. Will I be seeing more of you?"

I looked over at Bella, wondering if she would answer that. I sure as heck wasn't going to come hang out here alone in my free time, but he was Bella's dad. "I think so."

"You think so?" He didn't sound pleased with my answer. I looked back at Bella again.

She walked up, hooking her arm around me. "Yes, you will, Dad. Don't think I haven't noticed that you left your gun on this whole time."

He gave her an unapologetic grin and shrugged his shoulders, "You're my daughter."

She hugged him and kissed his cheek, "Yes, and he's my candy."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled. I had to ask her what candy meant when we were alone. "It really was nice seeing you, Edward. You take care of my girl, or I'll do more than point out that I have a gun."

"Dad!"

"What, you're my daughter," he reiterated his previous defense.

I couldn't help but chuckle at their silly quarrel.

When we got to her place, I set the bed up for her in the living room. That really was the only place it would fit, but I was sure Tom wouldn't mind. We sat back on her couch, looking at the bed. She snuggled next to me, and I glanced at a picture of her father on the table and grimaced.

"You sure your dad doesn't want to kill me?"

She smiled and nodded her head yes. She leaned in and whispered, "He sees what I see," and kissed my cheek. I loved it when she talked. Then it reminded me that she had talked to my dad so easily.

"You talked to my dad." She smiled. "Why did you talk to him so easily, but you make everyone else work for it?"

"Do you work for it?"

I blushed. "I haven't figured out what makes you talk yet. I'm just glad I get to hear you sometimes."

"You hear me all the time. That's what I love about you, Edward. Even if I don't use my voice, you can still hear me loud and clear."

I laughed nervously. "Or I just guess well," I shrugged.

She climbed into my lap. "No, you're more observant than most people. That's why you can speak to me so smoothly when most struggle. Besides, I find silence keeps people honest. Actions always speak louder than words."

"I have a word for you that screamed pretty loud for me." She raised an eyebrow at me. "You told my dad you were my girlfriend. Are you?" I asked, suddenly not so sure of myself.

"If it comes from my lips, it's true."

I was so excited, half laughing and smiling like an idiot.

She smiled at me then kissed my neck softly. "You're so sweet, Edward, it's adorable. I want to tuck you in my pocket and hide you from the world. I want to keep you for my own."

"You have me," I said looking into her eyes.

"I know. After that night at the club, I knew you were mine. You just didn't know I was yours, but you do now."

I couldn't help but blush at the mention of the club. I was so messed up that night, there was no telling what I had done, probably something excruciatingly embarrassing, knowing me.

In fact, I'd bet money on it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 -** **I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.**

**EDWARD**

I got a text from Emmett wanting my notes for a test we had tomorrow and rolled my eyes. I quickly texted back that he couldn't have them until in the morning, because I needed to look them over tonight.

I didn't see why he didn't just take his own damn notes. He was always bugging me for mine. How he was passing our anatomy class, or any of his classes, with the good grades he had, I didn't know. Hell, I didn't even know why he was taking all pre-med classes. He wasn't going to be a doctor. When I asked him, he winked at me and said one day I would understand, then he grabbed some chick's butt.

I showed my sent text to Bella, pouting and letting her know I had to go, but I didn't want to. She scowled at Emmett's message and then pulled me up from the couch, leading me to her truck.

When we arrived at the dorms, I wanted to kiss her goodbye, but she hadn't made a move to kiss me. She said she was my girlfriend, so I should've been able to kiss her, right?

She sat watching me, as if she was waiting for something. I looked nervously at her lips and then to my lap. I liked my nuts where they were, but her lips were definitely worth the risk of losing them. My breathing was increasing with the anticipation of possibly kissing her against her will. She would so kill me, and I didn't doubt that she could. I leaned toward her and used one hand to cover my nuts.

She scooted towards me, smiling widely. _Was she letting me kiss her, or was she going to do a surprise attack?_ She let me close the distance, even though I was on the verge of honking like a freaking goose again. Then our lips met, and it was heavenly. Her hands tangled up in my hair, and I loved it. She slowly released me, giving me a tentative last kiss and smiled at me.

I was panting hard, trying to stay conscious. "Thank you," I choked out breathlessly.

Her smile widened, and she waved goodbye. I stumbled out of her truck toward my dorm.

Once inside, I took off my pants, because I always studied in my underwear, when I was in my dorm. I picked up the sheet that Bella had washed, with the intent to make my bed, so I could study comfortably. I was holding it to my nose, breathing in deeply, when my dorm room door slammed open.

My brother yelled, "What the fuck?"

I bunched up the sheet I had been sniffing, trying to hide the evidence of my creepy infatuation. I assumed he was complaining about me not giving up my notes until morning, but he was staring at my shorts. I looked down and realized I was still wearing Bella's Strawberry Shortcake boxers.

"Are you going fruity on me or something?"

"Shut up, what are you doing here?" I tried changing the subject. "I told you, I'm not done with my notes yet."

"Now we both know that's not true. I don't know what you're playing at, man, but we both know you have nothing better to do other than study."

"I haven't had time yet this weekend."

"Haven't had time? What the hell have you been doing?" he eyed my boxers again.

I wished he would leave.

"None of your business, now will you please leave. I'm trying to make my bed."

"Why are you so snippy, little bro? You get some fruit up your ass?"

"Will you just shut up?" I snapped.

"Dude, what's wrong? Oh, man, did something happen with that chick you were singing to at the bar?"

"What?"

"You know, that quiet girl you were singing to, some 'Ode to Bella' or some shit like that, going on about how she was a goddess you were not worthy to touch, just before you passed out at her feet." I groaned. "I was going to get you to take you home, but the big dudes said they'd handle it. Besides, that bouncer chick was hot," he said wiggling his eyebrows. "I got her number."

"If it starts with area code 911, it isn't a real number, Emmett."

"It starts with 411. Ha! Shows how much you know!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Have you tried calling her yet?" He obviously hadn't, otherwise he would've known that it was also a fake number, _idiot_. (In the U.S. 411 is the number for information.)

He shifted nervously. Could he actually really like this girl?

"I'll get to it. I just have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on. So, come on, man, hand over the notes."

"Emmett, I'm not done with them yet. I'll give them to you in the morning. The test isn't until after lunch, and it'll give you plenty of time to skim them over and get a passing grade."

"Fine, but if I fail this test, it's on your head."

"Right, because the fact that you didn't take your own notes had nothing to do with it," I said sarcastically.

"I don't have time to take notes in that class. You've seen all the hot ass in that room. You can't expect me to contain little Emmy, now can you? It's physically impossible. I'm pretty sure that's chapter nine in the textbook," he winked at me and took off.

How we ended up being brothers, I would never know. We were day and night. I had brains, and he had…well, I didn't know what he had, but I was glad I didn't get any of it.

I fell asleep studying in my bed.

The dream I had made me wake up sweating and panicked. It was still vivid in my mind, and I wondered if it was because it wasn't actually a dream, but a memory. I was at the bar, sitting nervously next to Bella, as her friends shoved beer after beer in front of me. One of the guys asked me if I liked Bella, and I remembered blushing so hard, my whole body heated up.

Another guy asked if I thought she was out of my league, and in my drunken stupor, I boldly answered that she was out of everyone's league, that Bella was a goddess in a league of her own, and we were lucky she allowed us in her presence at all.

I remembered that comment got a lot of snickering from the guys; Bella, however, looked at me surprised. Of course, in my drunken stupor, I found the need to convince her of the truth of my words.

"Brown-eyed goddess, whose kiss hath sucked my heart and soul from my lips; you slid from heaven on your silver-lined pole. Your wrath is sweet and vengeance clear, as scum tries to taint your untouchable beauty. Your splendor hath blinded me, and I can see no other. Even the mighty oak holds no place in my sight. Your eyes, your smile, your soft delicate hands that hath turned blessed pages; oh, to hold such a hand and to feel the warmth of heaven that shineth in your eyes. I fall at your feet, because I will never be worthy, but you own my soul. I will forever worship at your temple."

The words were clear in my head now, and so was the embarrassment. I couldn't believe she had brought me breakfast the next day and didn't have them drop me off at the loony bin. Sure, I meant every word, but she didn't know that.

How was I ever going to face her again?

Emmett told me to meet him at the library to give him my notes. I didn't want to, but he insisted, saying Bella had been cool at the party Saturday, and he wanted to give it another try. I was going to tell him to bug off and leave her alone, but he hung up before I could. I decided to race to the library and get there before him, in hopes of saving her from my idiot brother.

When I burst through the library doors, she was sitting at her desk reading. The place was pretty quiet, as everyone was still recovering from their crazy weekend.

I looked around and didn't see Emmett anywhere. I decided to go say hello to Bella, but noticed as I got closer that she was actually scowling at the book she was reading, or not reading, as she flipped a chunk of pages. She was pissed.

I was silently praying she wasn't pissed at me.

Jake walked in, and I noticed she didn't say hi to him.

"Oh, come on, Bells," he whined. She stood up and pointed at her shirt. It read…

_**When life gives you lemons, squirt them in the eyes of your enemies…**_

Yes, she was definitely pissed, and by the looks of it, she was pissed at Jake. I breathed a sigh of relief and decided to go see if I could help my girl out.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" I asked directing my question more towards Jake. Bella pointed at Jake firmly and then made a cutting motion across her neck.

I looked at Jake worried. "You might want to step back. You seemed to have really pissed off my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Jake scoffed. His eyes darted back and forth between us. Bella was getting more pissed by the minute. She stomped up in front of him. He, being experienced with her, was backing away until he hit his desk.

Then she did it.

She punched him square in his junk.

He was on the floor crying. "Damn, Bella, I did it for your own good! Fuck, does your _boyfriend_ know what you're planning?" He said boyfriend like it was a derogatory word. Now I didn't feel so bad that he got punched in the junk.

She nodded a firm yes at him, spun around, and then marched back to her desk, plopping down in her chair. I looked between her and Jake, not sure what I was supposed to do.

"You know she's going to let some homeless guy live with her?" he snapped. I nodded my head yes. "What the hell, man? Are you nuts? You really think that's safe?" I rolled my eyes at him. "Well, it's not happening. I told Charlie what she had planned, and he put a stop to it."

"Crap," I sighed. We were going to have to find a place for Tom and fast. I walked over to Bella and knelt in front of her. "Hey, don't worry. We'll figure it out. You know I'll make sure he's taken care of."

She looked up at me, and I noticed her eyes were watering. I quickly pulled her into my arms, kissing her ear, as I whispered that it would be fine, and I would find a way to work things out.

"Holy shit!" Emmett roared.

We both looked up to see his mouth hanging open. Jake had pulled himself together and told Emmett to be quiet. Emmett pointed at us, silently asking Jake if what he was seeing was real.

Jake sneered, "I know, right? Fucking nuts," he growled and went back to work.


	12. Chapter 12

**Dollybigmomma's my beta master, LOVE HER!**

**Chapter 12** - _**I dream of a better world...where chickens can cross roads without having their morals questioned**_.

**EDWARD**

I gently rubbed Bella's arms and kissed her forehead. "Let me get rid of my brother," I whispered.

I grabbed my notes from my bag and shoved them at him. He stood there staring, and his eyes kept darting between Bella and me. It was getting annoying.

"Stop gaping," I growled.

He looked down at me shocked. "That's why you were busy. This weekend, I mean, why I couldn't have the notes?"

I nodded yes, and he smiled.

"Wait until Mom and Dad hear about this."

"They already know." I was getting more annoyed by the second.

His face screwed up, and he actually looked hurt. "You told them before you told me?"

"You've been a jerk to my girlfriend and harassed her. Why the heck would I talk to you about her, Emmett?"

He shrugged, looking properly chastised, "Because I'm your brother, Ed."

I glanced back at Bella, and she rolled her eyes at me and waved us over. I looked back at my pouting brother and sighed.

"Fine, you can meet her, but don't expect her to talk to you."

Emmett followed me to her desk, and I walked around it, pulling her to me. For some reason, I felt the need to claim her around Jake and Emmett. I knew it was very caveman of me, I just hoped she didn't mind.

I told her I was sorry with my eyes, and I could tell she understood me loud and clear. I was sure she was an expert at reading body language by now.

She looked at Emmett, who was still looking properly ashamed, as he reached his hand out to her. "Hey, sorry for harassing you and all, but you've got to know you're hot, right? And then the whole no talking thing…come on…a chick that can shut up is every guy's dream."

"Emmett," I growled.

"What I mean to say is that I won't bug you anymore, and let me know if someone else does, and I'll kick their ass. We wouldn't want to see my little brother's pretty face get messed up trying to defend your honor, 'cause I know he would, that's just the way he is. So, you know, tell me first, so he doesn't get hurt."

I thought she would be pissed at his statement. I certainly was. Of course, Bella never reacted the way I expected her to. She hugged my brother and then gave me a sweet smile.

I was left dumbfounded.

I wasn't sure what had happened, but I hoped it stuck, because I was around my stupid brother a lot, and it would be easier if my girl and he got along.

Emmett overheard me telling Bella that we would find a place for Tom, so Emmett volunteered his place. I warned him that Tom would need rest, but Bella and I would help with his care. For the six weeks that Tom was at Emmett's, it had to be a party-free zone.

Emmett cringed and checked his calendar, and then he said that he could move a party he had planned. He also wondered if Tom wouldn't mind the couch, because he didn't have an extra bed. I told him we would have a bed for him. He agreed, and then he asked if Tom wouldn't mind sleeping in the closet.

At this, Bella gasped, offended at the very idea.

"It's a really huge walk-in closet with a window. It'd be like he had his own room. I'll check to make sure it's properly vented, but it may actually be a good thing. The clothes will kind of soundproof it, too. Give him the quiet he'll need," I tried to reassure her.

I knew she'd want to see it and set it up, before we brought Tom home. I let Emmett know that I'd be helping Bella set up Tom's space later that evening. Tom was scheduled to be discharged tomorrow.

I didn't think Bella realized that my family was well off. I lived in a humble dorm, but that was because I liked things within walking distance. Emmett lived in a luxurious off-campus condominium he shared with Jasper. It was a nice two-bedroom place, in an upscale gated community. My mother insisted on the gated part. Emmett found it inhibited his partygoers from coming and going as freely as he wished, and the location kept his parties from getting too rowdy. Mom wasn't stupid.

I was surprised when Bella spoke, as we packed up the bed for Tom. "He cares, because you care. He's a good brother. I didn't see it before. He seemed like a jerk, but I can see why you put up with him."

I shrugged. "Yeah, he may push me around and harass me, but he always has my back, so I can't complain. Besides, if it wasn't for him, I would've never gotten up the nerve to talk to you."

"Why not?"

I blushed, "Because you're beautiful and way out of my league."

She rolled her eyes at me, and it made me chuckle. We were both excited for Tom to come home and get better.

We dropped by Emmett's later, and she gawked at my brother's place. I realized that my brother's closet was bigger than her bedroom. We set up the bed, and I made sure the air vents were open. I found an outlet and put up a little nightstand that I had stored in my parent's garage. My bedroom set had come with two, but two didn't fit in my dorm. Emmett brought a lamp in from the living room to put on the nightstand. The closet had an overhead light, but the lamp would make it feel more like a bedroom, and Tom wouldn't have to get up to turn off the light.

The nightstand had three decent drawers, so Bella put some pajama pants she had bought for Tom in the bottom and some t-shirts in the second. She left the top one empty for whatever Tom wanted to put in it. She finished making the bed with a green comforter, and then hung a small matching curtain over the window. I added another Louis L'Amour book to the nightstand, giving it the final touch to make it feel homier.

Bella had a beautiful smile, when she saw our finished product. She actually hugged Emmett and kissed his cheek, and then she hugged me and kissed me deeply. Man, I loved it when she kissed me.

The next morning, she was at my dorm bright and early, excited to get Tom and show him the place we had made for him. I smiled when I saw her shirt. I knew he would love it, too.

_**Never knock on Death's door. Ring the bell and run away. Death really hates that.**_

Tom chuckled when he saw it and chided her for making him laugh. He was still sore, but excited to go, though he said he would miss the three meals a day. I promised him he would be getting three meals a day at Emmett's as well. Unfortunately, it would mostly be takeout, but it'd still be edible.

Tom had tears in his eyes, when he saw the setup. He thanked us profusely, and then Emmett showed him to the bathroom they would be sharing. It was a master suite, so the bathroom was rather luxurious. Emmett tried to make Tom feel welcome and comfortable by clearing off a space on the counter for him, and he had stocked it with a new toothbrush, deodorant and a comb. He informed Tom he was welcome to use his body wash and shampoo, and then showed him where he kept the razors if he ever wanted to shave.

Emmett then went on about how awesome Tom's beard was, and he wondered if the blonde bouncer chick at the club would like the mountain man look. Bella laughed at him, shaking her head knowingly.

Somehow, I doubted it, too.


	13. Chapter 13

**Dollybigmomma looked at my mess and threw her hands up in the air in frustration. This is what was left afterwards…**

**Chapter 13** - **I'm smiling, because they haven't found the bodies yet! **

**EDWARD**

Tom was settled in and doing well. Over the past week that he'd lived with Emmett, I was surprised at how well Emmett had taken care of him.

I'd always known Emmett had a nurturing side to him. He always looked out for me, never letting me get picked on. Of course, that didn't mean he didn't pick on me himself. I guessed that was just a sibling thing, though.

We fell into a comfortable routine, meeting up between classes and for meals, spending all of our free time together. I missed her at night and wondered if she missed me, too. The memory of that night we spent together was very vivid in my mind. Not the embarrassing part, but the good part, and I wondered if she'd ever invite me over to stay with her again. There was no way I was going to push it, though.

At lunchtime, we fed Bella's "children" as Jake called them, which was so silly, because most the men at the park were old enough to be her father or grandfather, but she seemed to like them being called her children.

Our plans were different today. We ended up going somewhere after delivering the food to the men at the park. Where we were headed, I didn't know, since she was driving and hadn't bothered to tell me. She did have a sneaky grin on her face, though.

I checked her shirt to see what kind of mood she was in today.

_**I'm so gangsta, I carry a squirt gun.**_

I laughed as I read her shirt and wondered where the heck she got that stuff.

The neighborhood we were driving in was not the best, but she didn't seem bothered by it. I was a little lost, when she pulled up to _The Meat Nightclub_. It was the middle of the day. I knew it couldn't be open.

Bella texted someone and then hopped out of the truck, motioning for me to follow her. I got out, looking around cautiously, making sure there were no threats nearby. She caught what I was doing and rolled her eyes at me. I just shrugged. It was in my nature to worry about her.

To my surprise, when we walked up, the door opened. Giant blonde bouncer chick nodded at us and let us in.

Okay, Bella obviously knew someone who worked here.

I followed her down the hallway, past the bathrooms, toward a little door labeled "Office." She put her finger to her lips to shush me. I didn't think I was making any noise, but then I noticed how she crouched and began tiptoeing sneakily. I followed her lead, sneaking along with her. The door was open a crack, and you could hear someone talking on the phone, or rather yelling.

"You can kiss my ass, you fucking loser!" a girl screamed at the phone. Suddenly, Bella lunged at the tiny unsuspecting girl. She looked like a playful kitten as she flew through the air. She clung to the girl's back and started assaulting the girl's face…with kisses? The girl, in response, squealed loudly, dropping the phone and started laughing.

"Oh, you psycho bitch! Where the hell have you been?" The girl turned around and saw me standing there. She looked surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered.

"Wella, wella, wella! What the hella, Bella? What do we have here?" I stuck my hand out to shake, but she didn't take it. She looked at it and smiled as she circled me.

"I definitely see the appeal. Is this the fellow Rosalie told me about?" Now I was completely lost, and even more confused when Bella nodded her head yes.

Who the heck was Rosalie? The tiny pixie-like girl walked back around to the front of me and smiled.

"Well, Edward Cullen, it's nice to finally meet the boy who makes my girl want to talk," she smirked. I noticed her eyes catch the phrase on Bella's shirt, and she started backing toward her desk slowly, as if she was going to sit down.

"So, Edward, I hear you're in school. What is it you're studying?" she asked, still eyeing Bella.

"Internal medicine. Um, I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name," I said embarrassed that I had to ask. She knew my name, so I felt I should know hers.

"Alice Brandon, owner of _The Meat Nightclub_," she answered as she bent down to open the bottom drawer of her desk.

"So, Bella," she smiled, "I'm more gansta than you!" she declared as she pulled out a massive water gun and started shooting Bella, who quickly took cover…behind me.

Of course, Bella being Bella, she pulled two little water guns out of her pockets and started shooting back. When the guns were all empty, we were soaked. I realized that the water all over me smelled funny. Alice saw me sniff it and started laughing.

"It's cheap scotch, but it aged a bit more sitting in the water gun," she smirked at Bella. "I've been waiting for you to wear that shirt again."

Bella peeked under my arm at Alice and shook her empty guns.

"Yeah, go have Rose fill them with whatever you want. There's nothing like a good scotch fight."

Bella smiled and then noticed the phone was still off the hook. She motioned to it, and Alice scowled. "Marcus is being all moody. It's time I dropped his Goth ass. Does your hottie have a brother?" Alice asked smiling at me.

I decided to answer. "Yes, I do, but he likes the bouncer. We do have a single friend, Jasper."

Bella's face lit up, and Alice saw her reaction.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Alice asked with a tinge of excitement.

Bella nodded her head with a grin.

Then Alice yelled, "Naked Thursdays!"

Bella whacked Alice on the back of the head. Apparently, they weren't thinking the same thing.

"Fine, fine, but I'm telling you, it's an awesome idea," Alice rubbed her head, coming away with scotch on her fingers. "Watch the hair next time."

"So what's the idea?" I asked them.

"Tequila, we play a few games and get to know each other, and if I'm lucky, I'll _get_ lucky."

I kind of felt bad for sticking Jasper with this girl. Jasper hung out with Emmett sometimes, but he was far from wild. I think Jasper was the only reason Emmett didn't have a police record.

Alice followed us out to the bar, and Bella handed her guns over to the big blonde, who filled them without even blinking. I guess this was a common occurrence.

"Rosalie, we're taking tonight off to hang with Bella. Call Heidi in to bounce," Alice ordered.

The big blonde bouncer chick nodded.

If that was who was coming, I was sure Emmett would cancel everything to come to Bella's.

"Edward," Alice snapped, "Follow me."

She led me into a back storage room and pointed out a case of tequila bottles. I was going to open it and take a bottle out, but she laughed at me. "Oh, no, no, no, my dear boy, we're taking the whole case. We're going to have so much fun, it'll be criminal, but we won't get in trouble, because no one will remember it."

I was getting a little nervous. Alice was smiling at me widely, and I hoped she wasn't into group stuff, because I just didn't swing that way. I hadn't even gone all the way with Bella, or anyone else for that matter. There was no way I was going to be messing around with a bunch of people.

"Oh, don't look so scared, boy. Bella won't hurt you, unless you ask her to. Take that out to her truck, and tell her we'll be over at eight o'clock this evening. Have your brother and your buddy there with pizza. We take it with _everything_." She winked at me then swatted my ass, as I walked away.

Bella looked at my face, as I loaded the case, and she burst out laughing. Not little laughing like usual, but big laughter. I would have smiled, if I wasn't so scared. She settled down and snuggled into my arms, pushing me against the truck.

"Edward, it'll be fine, I swear. No one is going to hurt you, I promise. We usually get drunk, make wild plans, and then black out fully-clothed and wake up with wicked headaches. Alice will make us all her special hangover drink that tastes like shit, and we'll all talk softly about the bits of the night we do remember, laughing at the stupid stuff we did, like walking into the pantry looking for the bathroom. We'll stay at my place, so we'll all be safe," she said and kissed my lips softly. All I could think was one foreboding phrase.

_Famous last words_…


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14** - **My mind works like lightning...one brilliant flash and it's gone.**

**EDWARD**

To say that Emmett was pumped about meeting up with the girls was an understatement. He was thoroughly excited to see bouncer chick, aka Rosalie, again. Jasper was a little more hesitant, but because he was such good friends with Emmett and me, he was in to make sure we stayed out of jail.

He was cool like that.

I asked Bella to take me back to my dorm, so I could change out of my scotch-soaked clothes, before we headed to her place. As we were walking up the sidewalk, she jumped up on my back. I hitched her legs up, giving her a piggyback ride. When we got to the elevators, she started sucking on my neck and licking the dripped scotch from my ear. Needless to say, I was instantly aroused and struggling to breathe.

She slipped off my back and then jumped on my front, her lips finding mine quickly. Her legs wrapped around me, shocking me, but not enough for inaction. I held onto her butt, as I stumbled out of the elevator and into the hallway of my dorm room. I pressed her against the wall next to the door, so I could open it without putting her down.

"I want you," she whispered.

Of course, I panicked and started honking like a goose, as I wheezed and gasped between kisses. I reached for the doorknob, but it wasn't there.

"Edward, are you alright?"

I froze. I prayed that I was hallucinating hearing my father's voice. I realized Bella had stopped kissing me and was resting her lips against my neck. I tried to get my breathing under control, but it wasn't working.

"Are you having an asthma attack?" my father asked, and I wished the ground would open up and swallow me. I didn't want to look up and see him. I wanted to take my girlfriend into my room, not talk with my dad.

"Son?" I heard him ask, but he was closer to me now. "My heavens, how much have you had to drink? Are you drunk?"

I let out a sigh and stepped back, setting Bella down.

"No, Dad, I'm completely sober." I finally faced him. It didn't look like he believed me. "I'm sober, Dad. I haven't been drinking."

"But you reek of alcohol."

Bella pulled her water gun out and showed it to my father. He looked at her confused. "You had a water gun fight with alcohol?" he asked, like he wasn't sure if he believed her.

Bella nodded yes, and slipped past him into my room. I wished I could follow and avoid the confrontation with my father.

"Bella has a friend who owns a bar, so they had a scotch fight that I ended up in the middle of. I was coming home to change. Was there something you needed, Dad?"

He frowned, but went on anyways, "Your grandfather and mother want to meet Bella. Your mother insists you bring her to Sunday dinner."

Our Sundays were usually free, so I hoped Bella didn't kill me for accepting the invitation on her behalf. "That sounds fine."

He clapped his hands. "Excellent, I'll let your mother know. Your grandfather is expected to attend as well, so be ready to discuss your grades and classwork. And, Edward, if you're going to drink, please drink responsibly. Emmett has been such a disappointment. I expect more from you." I didn't like when he talked bad about Emmett, but I could never think of anything positive to say in Emmett's defense.

"I know, Dad. You know I won't mess up."

"That's my golden boy," he said messing my hair up, and then he turned to Bella, who was waiting for me on my bed. "I'll see you Sunday."

Bella gave him a beaming wide smile, as she waved goodbye to him. I really hoped she made a good impression on my grandfather. I'd really hate to go against my family for her, but I would. She must not have liked the solemn look I had on, because she shot me in the face with her scotch gun.

Little stinker.

I carried up the case of tequila for Bella and placed it on the counter, where she immediately started making Jell-O shots and some other mixers. It looked like we were having a variety of drinks for the night. She went to change into something else for the evening. I figured she wasn't a fan of stale scotch smell, either. The phrase on her new shirt was perfect.

_**Earth is the insane asylum for the universe**_

I should have seen that as a foreshadowing of the rest of the evening.

Emmett and Jasper showed up a little early. Emmett was obviously eager and slightly hyper, because he was nervous. They were carrying eight pizza boxes, and when Bella saw them and shot me a confused look, I told her not to underestimate Emmett's stomach.

Alice and Rose showed up shortly thereafter. Alice was spinning a board game on her finger like a pro basketball player.

"We're starting with Rollo's," she announced, and Rose held up a bag of candy and chopsticks. "Then we're playing Shot's and Ladders," she giggled, "Followed by either Truth or Dare or I Never. We'll see how we're feeling at that point." Alice dropped the game on the little coffee table, and I saw it was the children's board game, Chutes and Ladders.

It seemed like it was going to be an interesting night.

"So, who is this?" Alice asked appraising my brother.

"That's my brother, Emmett," I answered. She smiled, because Emmett was nervously trying to say hello to Rose, who was ignoring him.

"Right, then where's my stallion for the evening?" Alice asked just as Jasper came back from the bathroom. They locked eyes with goofy grins on their faces. Jasper moved forward slowly, until he was right in front of her, towering over her tiny frame.

"Please tell me you're Alice," he begged, his eyes were soft and focused on her.

"I'm Alice," she answered, before she jumped into his arms, knocking him back on the sofa, and they immediately became attached at the mouth. I looked at Rose and Emmett, and we all shrugged, as Alice and Jasper had become wrapped around each other. It looked like they'd hit it off just fine.

Bella came in shortly after her friend attacked mine, and she was finally able to coax Alice's tongue out of Jasper's mouth with the promise of Jell-O shots. She set the tray in the middle of the table, as Alice explained the first game. There was one die that was passed around; everyone was trying to roll a six. You got three chances to get a six. If you didn't get a six, you took a shot and passed the die to the next person. If you got the six, you grabbed the chopsticks and candy and attempted to unwrap and eat the Rollo candy with them, no stabbing the candy allowed.

We played this until each of the girls had at least one candy. I had to say, trying to use chopsticks while drunk to do anything was impossible. The Jell-O seemed to slow things down a little, but I did end up taking a bathroom break, where I puked my guts out.

Yeah, pizza sucked in reverse.

Chutes and Ladders didn't seem any more promising. You tried to get to the end of the game while playing it like normal, but to move your piece, you had to either take a shot or answer a question for each space. Oh, and going up a ladder was an automatic shot. Yeah, I think they were trying to get us drunk, though the case of tequila should have been my first clue. The night would only get crazier from there.

Too bad we wouldn't remember most of it…


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 - **_**Too many freaks, not enough circus!**_

**EDWARD**

My head hurt. Not a little, but big, like please chop it off big. I would really have appreciated being decapitated right about now. I felt something warm on my back. It was as if a heat lamp was shining down on me. There was something soft and warm under me that smelled yummy, like Bella. I nuzzled my face into it, and I heard giggling. I felt fingers run through my hair. Then I realized I was lying on her naked tummy.

"Edward," I could hear the smile in her voice, "Do you know where we are?"

"What?" I opened my eyes, realizing I wasn't still dreaming. I was blinded by the sun, but recovered enough to see that I was lying on a beach in just my boxers. We were both in just our underwear.

"Edward," she spoke timidly, "Do you know where our clothes are?"

I quickly looked up and down the beach for gawkers and was relieved to see my parent's beach house behind us. "Oh, thank god." I only had to worry about Emmett and Jasper seeing her nearly naked. I was pretty sure they'd look away from her. Well, I knew Jasper would for sure.

"What?"

"The island, we're on the island. We're fine, Bella. Come on, our clothes are probably in the house, and if not, there'll be something there to wear." I helped her up off the sand, much too aware of her body. I considered making her walk behind me, so I couldn't look, but I was too self-conscious. Instead, I wrapped my arm around her, feeling the need to protect her from non-existent prying eyes. As long as I knew where she was, I'd know where not to look.

"So, where are we?"

"We're on the island, Isle Esme, to be more precise. My dad bought it for my mom as an anniversary present." She looked at me shocked. "I still don't know how we got here, though," I said confused.

I noticed she kept glancing up to my hair, and I wondered what the deal was with that. I wondered where everyone else was and where the heck our clothes were. Bella was almost naked, and so beautiful…and almost naked…and almost naked…

I cleared my throat and focused on the beach house, while hoping she didn't look down and notice how almost naked I was, too, while noticing her being almost naked. My flimsy boxers were doing nothing to hide my reaction to that pretty little lacy matching bra and panty set she was wearing.

I opened the door to the beach house and found Emmett. He was asleep with his head on Rose's leg, while she slept on the couch. He looked a bit like a trained seal the way his back arched. He was going to be really sore when he woke up.

I still hadn't found our clothes yet. I pulled Bella to my room in the beach house and handed her a t-shirt. I wished it was her closet, so I could see how she was feeling by the clothing she'd pick. Instead, I just had a plain t-shirt and some drawstring shorts to give her.

I heard ringing. It sounded like my cell phone.

I quickly threw on some shorts and went searching for it. It stopped, and I sighed in frustration, but Bella walked past me into the kitchen. I followed after her, and she handed me my phone and my pants from yesterday.

There was a shirt I didn't recognize on the ground…two, actually. Bella picked up her clothes with the shirts, and I saw her glance up at my hair once more.

My phone started ringing again. I groaned when I saw it was my dad.

"Hello," I said softly, because my head still hurt.

"If this is what you call drinking responsibly, Edward, remind me to get you a dictionary, because you obviously don't know what responsible means!" my dad yelled.

"Yeah," was my answer to that. I was pretty sure I wasn't sober yet.

"What?"

"Do you know how we got to the island?" I asked, and he growled.

"Edward!" he shouted, and I flinched. "Do you remember nothing of last night?"

"Um, bits of it, just not the end of it or how I got here," I answered honestly.

"I got a frantic call from Juan last night. You, Emmett and his friends were all completely smashed. You wanted to go to the island, and Juan suggested I let you go, so you'd be contained!" I flinched again at his loud voice.

"I don't even remember leaving the apartment. We planned on staying in the same place all night until we recovered. That was the plan."

"Well, your plan didn't work! Thankfully, Juan let me know you all arrived by taxi, and then you threatened to take the plane on your own if he didn't fly you!"

"Oh, my god, please, tell Juan we're so sorry. Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. I don't even remember."

"Exactly! There's more to drinking responsibly than not driving, Son. Drinking in moderation, so you don't black out and act like an ass, would be part of that!"

I knew my dad was pissed. He very rarely swore, so when he used the word ass, I knew it was bad.

"How can I make it up to him? He's alright, though, right? We didn't rough him up or anything?"

"No, he's fine, but a good ten thousand dollars richer as a bonus from both your and Emmett's trust funds for putting up with your crap. I also promised him you all would be completely sober before he flies you home!"

"I'm sorry, Dad, I'm so sorry."

"I expect this kind of behavior from Emmett, but not you, Edward. You know I want more for you. I'm starting to question the kind of influence that girl has over you. Though I have a feeling this was all Emmett's doing, since he's with you."

He sounded so disappointed in me, and I didn't like him thinking Bella was bad for me.

I slid down the kitchen cabinets and fought back tears. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Well, at least this mess is somewhat contained, thanks to Juan. The man is a saint. I expect you all to apologize to him profusely for your behavior, and then you'll not speak a word of this to anyone else. It would break your mother's heart to have such delinquents for sons, and your grandfather would likely have a coronary hearing you've done something like this."

I groaned. "I'm sorry. I promise we'll be sober, apologize, and never mention this again, especially around Mom. I'm very sorry, Dad."

"Right, well, don't be late for Sunday dinner," he snapped, before he hung up.

I hung my head in shame. I ran my hand through my hair and was surprised by its…_crunchiness?_ _Could hair be crunchy?_

Bella found me on the floor and pushed her way into my lap.

"Do you remember anything about last night?" I asked softly.

"Well, between your hair and the goose, I'd say we had a lot of fun."

"Goose?"

"Um, I don't think it's permanent, but yeah..."

"Permanent? What goose?"

"The one on your back?" she answered timidly.

I dropped my head on her shoulder. "My dad is really, really mad. He said ass. That's not good."

She ran her hand through my crunchy hair. "What's with my hair?" I asked suddenly.

Her face scrunched a little. "Um, it's kind of heavily highlighted with a sparkly flaxen, or golden, color."

"Why?" I asked.

"I suspect it has something to do with the shirts," she pointed down the hall to the washroom. I looked at her confused. "Yeah, yours said 'I'm the golden boy' on it. Really, I'm not that creative when I'm drunk. Mine said 'I won the gold,' so, yeah, it's pretty lame."

"Hello?" we heard Jasper call.

"In the kitchen," I answered as softly as possible, but hopefully, they heard. I couldn't contain my gasp, as Jasper walked in with Alice.

His hair was PURPLE!

"What?" he asked, oblivious to his plight.

I noticed Alice kept glancing at his head and then looking at mine, cringing. Yeah, it was bad. I was never drinking again.

Bella started giggling and then pointed to Jasper's shirt. I had been too distracted by his lavender hair to notice it.

_**Purple-headed warrior in the first New Cavalry**_.

Alice's shirt said…_**I ride Cavalry**_.

Well, at least _she_ found this amusing.

"Edward, how the hell did we end up on the island?" Jasper asked.

"It wasn't good. My dad is furious, and we all have to be sober and apologize to Juan profusely, so he'll take us home."

"Oh, man, I'm sorry, dude," he offered.

"Yeah, I know, we all are," I commiserated.

He glanced toward Emmett. I think we both knew Emmett would probably not regret this. At least Emmett's hair was the right color, sort of. It looked a lot darker than normal.

"I'm going to go take a shower," I finally announced, running my hand through my crisp hair.

Jasper's eyes were on it, too. He looked a little worried.

_Just wait until he saw _his_ hair_.

I started down the hallway to the bathroom, and I felt Bella push her hand in mine. I looked at her confused. I had never showered with a girl before. I was about to send her to another bathroom, when she touched my back, reminding me of the goose.

I probably would need her help getting that off.

I stepped into the shower with my clothes on, because I didn't really feel that comfortable standing naked in front of a girl. It was hard enough to walk on the beach next to her, but we were focused on looking for our clothes. In the shower, though, we'd just be standing there…naked, and I mean, _all_ the way naked. I wasn't ready for her to see that part of me, especially since it would be for an extended period of time in the shower, where it would just be hanging out there, with her right there. There would be no way to hide my reaction to her at all.

"I'm sorry things got out of hand," she whispered.

I kissed her forehead and turned the water on, thankful she wasn't undressing, either.

She turned me around and softly scrubbed my back. I closed my eyes and remembered bits of last night. Mostly chasing her in her undies on the beach and kissing. The moonlight on her skin was beautiful. She was a goddess. I did finally catch her and kissed her all over before…passing out. I was sure it was a dream, but the way we woke up left me to believe it was real.

She was beautiful.

I turned around and pulled her into my arms tightly, kissing the top of her head. She sighed in what I hoped was contentment.

"What do you remember of last night?" I asked.

"Um, we played 'I never' for a while, and I said I had never been to an island, and you said you wanted to take me to one right then. Your brother agreed, but the hair part is a little blurry. I think that may have been a dare, or at least I hope it was," she cringed as she ran her hand through my hair.

"Was there a fire?" I suddenly asked, remembering smoke.

"Yes, but…oh, god, I'm so going to have to disinfect my kitchen."

"What?" I asked.

"You, your brother and Jasper tried to put it out by peeing on it. Thankfully, Rose is a volunteer firefighter and was able to get it out, before it could do any real damage." She dropped her head on my chest. "Crap," she whispered.

"Is this normal, I mean, for you and your friends?" I asked timidly.

"No, we don't have the means to take off to private islands. We usually wake up with horrible headaches and a stupid movie menu repeating on TV."

"Oh." I didn't know what to say to that. I let her words sink in. I was mortified that I had peed all over her kitchen. "I'll get a cleaning service to come in for you. You shouldn't have to deal with that," I shuddered a little.

She looked up at me and chuckled. She pulled me down to her lips, kissing me softly. "Kneel down," she whispered, and I did as she told me, because I would always do as she told me.

She reached for the shampoo and washed my hair. I boldly buried my face in her soggy cloth-covered breasts as she worked, humming with contentment. Her hands felt amazing.

Then it dawned on me that there was so much of the evening I didn't remember. I might have lost my virginity to her and not even remembered it.

"We didn't…did we?" I asked.

"What?"

"Have…" I couldn't control my breathing. "Have…we didn't have..."

"Sex?" she said casually. "No, we didn't."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Edward, I'm sure. Why?"

"I just…I just..."

She tipped my head up. "Do you not want to have sex with me?" she asked offended.

"Yes, I do!" I answered too quickly. I flinched. "I just want to remember it."

She smiled, kissing my nose. "We'll remember it, Edward. I promise."

"So, you're sure then?"

"Yes, I'm positive."

"How can you be so sure?"

She rolled her eyes at me, "Because, I'm not sore, Edward. I'm pretty sure it's going to hurt like hell when you pop my cherry, at least that's what I've heard."

My eyes widened in shock. "You're a virgin?"

"Aren't you?"

I cringed a little, ashamed, and nodded my head yes.

"Why are you so shocked?"

"Because, you're so beautiful, amazing and surrounded by guys like…" She raised an eyebrow at me, waiting. "Like at the bonfire," I finally spat it out.

"I have some friends that are guys. I don't want to mess it up with a serious relationship."

"Are we messed up?" I asked timidly, afraid she would say yes.

"No," she spoke softly, but with conviction. "We're perfect together, Edward." I sighed in relief and buried my face back in her chest, hugging her tightly to me.

I couldn't have agreed more.


	16. Chapter 16

**Dollybigmomma did her beta magic on this**

**Chapter 16** – **Don't drink water. Fish have sex in it**.

**EDWARD**

Even after shampooing my hair twice, I still had a head full of bright golden highlights.

_Wonderful_, there'd be no hiding that from my mother or my grandfather.

We got dressed and ready to go, before walking into the front room to find Emmett, stretching to reach his toes. Several loud pops emanated from his back. When he stood up, he smiled at me widely.

"Hey, little bro. Check it out, we're on the island! That's so awesome. I think I'm going to do some surfing," he said excitedly.

He stepped onto the back patio, and I could see his oddly black hair was now shining a dark cherry color. _What the hell had happened to our hair?_

I turned to Jasper, who now had pink hair. Apparently, he had been trying to wash the color out, and it had lightened up.

"Where are the girls?"

"Kitchen," he answered, pulling on the ends of his hair trying to see it.

I walked out after Emmett. "We have to go home. Dad's pissed."

"So?" he shrugged. "Let him be pissed. I'm surfing."

"Emmett, we screwed up bad. Dad said ass."

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my boots. Oh, wait. I'm not wearing any. Get over it, Ed. Don't let him get to you. We're in paradise with hot chicks, and we don't have class until Monday."

"They're expecting us for Sunday dinner, Emmett. We need to go home and try to fix the mess we made."

"What mess?"

"My hair, for starters, and apparently, there was a fire at Bella's."

"I know, right? Crazy how flammable cheese is. Who would've thought it'd just go up like that?"

"Emmett!" I snapped.

"Dude, just chill, we can leave tomorrow at noon and still have a couple of hours to clean up, before we see Mom and Dad. Just relax, little bro, I wouldn't leave you hanging. Now, run along and go play," he said shooing me away, and I really wanted to hit him over the head with something heavy at that moment. Then it dawned on me that Emmett didn't seem to be hung over.

"Emmett, do you know what happened to our hair?"

"Awesome, right?" he said running his hand through his dark cherry hair. "I wanted to get tattoos, but Alice thought this would be a louder statement. You did rock that goose pretty hard, though. Too bad it wasn't permanent."

"Why did I have a goose on my back?"

"Duh, Bro, because you sounded like a goose when you were fucking Bella," he said rolling his eyes.

"What?!"

"Don't panic. From what we could hear of you two back in the private suite, you did just fine, even through all of that honking," he started laughing hard. "I swear, Jasper is one paranoid fuck when he's drunk. He kept thinking a bunch of geese were attacking the plane."

"I…we…on the plane?"

"Yeah, Bro. Welcome to the Mile-High Club," he patted my shoulder hard and turned to leave.

"Emmett, um, I don't think she remembers. Could you not tell her until…?" Until what, I wasn't sure. I definitely wanted to be sure, before I brought it up again. She had said she was a virgin, so she'd definitely remember for sure, wouldn't she? He must have been mistaken.

He ran his hand over his t-shirt, smoothing it out. I realized it said _**Rose's Hose,**_ with an arrow pointing down. Yeah, he must have designed that himself.

"Yeah, no problem, dude, but maybe you could get your goose honk to sound more like a growl next time you fuck her."

I groaned, thumping my head down on the patio table.

"Hey, chill, Bro, it's not a big deal," he rubbed my golden hair. "You know, you rock this look, golden boy. Mom's going to love it, goldilocks!" he shouted, as he headed down to the beach.

I hoped Emmett was wrong about the sex on the plane thing. I'd really like to remember my first time when it happened. We'd probably just made out. She'd be sore otherwise, right? She did say it would have been her first time. Yeah, it was probably nothing. I honked when we kissed a lot, too, so it was probably just that…

Bella found me sitting with my head down and kissed my neck. I sat up and pulled her into my lap, nuzzling my face into her hair. I worried about how holding her now seemed so much easier than it had before…

"Emmett wants to stay until tomorrow. He says if we leave by noon, we'll still have time to get home and clean up before dinner with my folks," I looked up at her.

She smiled and nodded okay.

I let out a sigh.

She coaxed me off of the patio chair and pulled me down toward the beach. "Walk with me," she whispered.

I followed her, because I would follow her anywhere.

"This place is beautiful. Are there any villages nearby?"

"Um, we'd have to take a boat. There's nothing on the island except this house, the dock and the cabana house with the beach stuff down there," I pointed out the weird little shed, where Emmett was pulling out his surfboard.

"So, your parents really own this whole island?"

"Yeah, but it's really not that big. It's part of a resort community on the mainland. They do the security and maintenance on this place."

She chuckled, shaking her head. "It's still an island. Your family has an island. I guess I don't know you as well as I thought."

My heart broke a little when she said that. I wanted her to know me, all of me.

"Do you remember the plane ride at all?" she asked.

I cringed, "No, not really." I really wished I did.

"I'm scared to death of flying, so I'm pretty sure I got even more plastered before we took off to handle it. I usually have to have someone distract me to keep from having a panic attack," she giggled.

Crap, I might have screwed a drunken girl…scratch that, I might have messed everything up while drunk. I was silently freaking out, and Bella being Bella, she could tell easily.

"Are you alright?"

"Um, there's just so much we can't remember. I hope we didn't hurt anyone, you know, or do anything really stupid."

"Oh, you mean more stupid than dyeing your hair?" she asked smiling.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Don't worry, I think we're alright. I don't remember the plane ride, but I remember waking up here and puking my guts out, so we couldn't have done too much."

"The beach," I said. She looked at me questioningly. "We were nearly naked on the beach. I chased you down the beach in the moonlight, you were so beautiful, are so beautiful," I corrected.

She smiled and pulled me back toward the house. "Come on, Rose and Alice probably have breakfast or lunch, or whatever it is, ready," she finally said.

I followed her back to the house, silently praying what Emmett had said was wrong. I never had been that drunk before. It was completely out of character for me to do something like that, and so I didn't know how I would act. I really hoped Emmett was wrong, and that Bella and I didn't lose our virginity on the plane. He did say he only heard us, not saw us. That made me hopeful we hadn't done something we'd regret.

"Who pissed in your yogurt?" Alice asked me, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Oh, right, you pissed in Bella's. That was nice of you to try and put out the fire, risking your family jewels and all."

I looked up to see a pretty good spread, for canned goods. Fried Spam and beans…that would be interesting. "Looks good," I said suppressing my grimace. I knew it was the best they could do with what we had. "I'll call Elisa to come clean up and bring some more groceries."

"You call someone to bring you groceries?" Rose asked.

"Um, yeah, otherwise I have to take the boat to the mainland," I pointed out. Duh! I wanted to add that out loud, but I didn't.

"We can go to the mainland. I'd love to do some shopping, if I can find my purse. I haven't been able to find it, though," Alice frowned.

I had no clue where her purse was, either.

"Would you take us to the mainland? I'd love to see it," Bella added.

One look from her and I crumbled. I shoved the food in my mouth and grimaced, "Only if you all promise to grocery shop."

They all laughed at me.

Jasper, on the other hand, was thinking the same thing, as he grimaced and choked down another bite of Spam and beans.

I told Emmett we were taking off to the mainland, and I was kind of glad that he decided to stay and surf. The last thing I needed was to end up in jail in a third-world country. Rose plopped down in the sand to watch him, waving us off to go shopping.

We parked the boat at the dock of the resort, where my parents had a membership. Most of the surrounding shops would take credit cards, so we would be okay.

Alice, unfortunately, did find her purse. What she didn't realize was that the American dollar was of much higher value than the local tender was. She found herself in a dress shop and bought five dresses, handing the lady a one hundred dollar bill. From what I could tell, they were selling for about five dollars each American tender, but I figured the woman could use the cash. She had a little boy hanging on her leg, a baby in her arms, and looked to be expecting another soon. I talked to the little boy and gave him some candy, while he tried to make out what I was saying. I think he was trying to get me to buy something, too, but I passed on it.

When we left, Bella leaned over and whispered, "Alice overpaid, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but they needed it. Alice can probably spare it, and she thinks she got a good deal, right? They're both happy."

She was holding my hand and leaned into me and kissed my cheek. I found a bank with an ATM and was able to withdraw some money. I passed it to Bella and kissed her cheek, "Go make someone's day."

She looked like she was about to hand it back, but then I pointed out a stand, where two little girls were selling necklaces with their mom. "Those are some cute little girls selling necklaces. I bet you can make them smile."

I chuckled, as the little girls' eyes widened at the wad of money in Bella's hand. I was pretty sure she paid twenty dollars a necklace, when they were selling them for a dollar. The girls were chattering excitedly to each other, showing her more and more things to buy. Bella ended up with six new necklaces and some new little friends. They quickly took her over to a scarf shop, where the girls had friends. She ended up buying three hats and three scarves from them. She wore two of her necklaces and a scarf on her hair, and then she gave Jasper and me a hat. She bought Alice and Rose each a scarf for their hair and two necklaces to wear also.

She looked so beautiful and happy.

She found a bookstore and was drawn into it, even though she couldn't read the language. She went on to buy ten different children's books, all beginner readers, and was about to check out, when I stepped in and used my credit card.

"I use the credit card where I can and give cash to the locals," I said.

She nodded in understanding and took the books to the stands we had visited, giving the kids books to read. She told them they should trade off and help each other, but I wasn't sure if they understood. One little girl seemed particularly thrilled and hugged Bella, crying happily.

She was amazing. I had never met someone so loving, with such a big heart.

We were headed to the general store in town, when a large woman came stomping out of her shop. "You!" she pointed at Jasper. "I fix, come."

He took his hat off and rubbed his pink hair. "You can fix this?" he asked hopefully.

She nodded yes, and he ran to her quickly, jumping in her little chair. I pulled out some more cash, knowing Jasper probably didn't have any to pay her, and she really deserved to be well paid if she could fix that.

An hour later, Jasper's head was uncovered, and though his hair was a slightly lighter shade than it usually was, it was not pink anymore. He hugged the woman, kissing her cheek. She laughed at his antics, and I paid her generously. She had tears in her eyes when we left.

We went to the little general store and found some bread, eggs, fresh vegetables, and fruit. Bella cringed, when she realized they sold live chickens, instead of dead, processed ones.

"I don't think I can eat it, if I saw it alive."

"Pork it is," I said walking over to a giant dead pig. "Can you cut this?" I asked making a chopping motion with my hands.

The man laughed at me. "Sure thing, buddy, but I'm not deaf, so you don't have to yell," he answered in perfect English. Everyone started laughing at me.

"See? This is why I have Elisa do the shopping," I grumbled, causing Bella to laugh harder, before she shook her head and wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing me thoroughly until I was breathless.

Yeah, sometimes, being a fool wasn't so bad…


	17. Chapter 17

**Dollybigmomma is my awesome Beta, but you all know that, so give her some love.**

**Chapter 17 - Once you're in heaven, are you get stuck wearing the same clothes you were buried in for eternity?**

**EDWARD**

We obviously couldn't eat the whole pig, so after taking some loin chops, a slab of ribs for dinner and some meat we could smoke for breakfast, I had him butcher the rest of the pig and had it delivered to the little shops we had visited. The man smiled, when he wrote down the plans for the meat.

I had a feeling he was very familiar with the locals.

When we arrived back on the island, Jasper went straight to barbequing on the back patio. Bella dug around in the drawers and finally found a permanent marker, though I had no idea why she needed one so frantically. She let out a sigh of relief, as she pulled off the lid, and for a moment, I thought she was going to sniff it and get high.

She then pulled out a plain white apron and wrote…

_**What disease did cured ham actually have?**_

I smiled at the silly saying, as I stood in the doorway, watching her appraise her work. She turned to head out of the kitchen to the patio and caught me in her peripheral vision. She held up the apron, showing me her handiwork, and I smiled widely.

"My dad is going to get a kick out of that when he sees it." He'd think the medical reference was funny.

She looked worried, so I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around her. "He'll love it. Now, do you need me to hold Jasper down while you force him to wear it?"

She rolled her eyes at me and walked out, presenting the apron to Jasper, who laughed and eagerly put it on. "This rocks, Bella," he said excitedly.

I noticed Rose looking at something down on the beach and realized Emmett was sitting there alone. I decided to see how he was doing. He didn't notice me at first, so I was able to get a good look at the serious expression on his face, as he tossed pebbles into the ocean. He looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I wondered what was wrong.

"Hey, Em, you can't surf if you fill the ocean up with rocks," I quoted my dad. He just laughed and nodded at me.

"How you doing, little bro, you finally loosening up a little?" he asked, glancing back toward the house where our friends were working on dinner.

"Yeah, I think I am. Thanks for talking me into staying."

"Any time, little bro. You know, if it wasn't for me, you'd end up a lonely geek with a stick up that tight ass of yours. I don't mean to upset you, Ed. I'm just showing you my brotherly love. I just want you to have a little fun, live life a little, while you're still young, before Dad and Gramps strap you down with reality and there's no time anymore. It all passes too fast not to take a little time to smell the roses," he grinned with a mischievous glance at our girls, "Or Bella's, in your case."

This was the first time Emmett had ever explained his pestering to me, and now it all made sense. I leaned over and hugged him. He hugged me back, and then he picked me up and threw me in the water. He was grinning widely, when I popped up, shocked and sputtering.

"Surf's up, Bro," he said, passing me a surfboard and pulling his own out with him into the water.

My brother, in his own twisted way, had just let me know he wanted to spend some time with me. I laughed, splashing him, as I took the board from him and paddled out beside him.

We surfed until the sun started to set. I noticed Bella and Rose sitting on the beach watching us as we came in.

"Hey," I said timidly, feeling bad for ditching her, "I'm sorry, I got a little distracted."

She smiled at me, shaking her head no, so I'd know she wasn't upset. I pulled her up off the sand and kissed her softly.

When I pulled away, I looked to where Rose had been sitting. Emmett had helped her up, and she offered him a towel. He thanked her quietly. I had never seen my brother intimidated by a girl, but I was pretty sure that was what it looked like. They walked next to each other back toward the house, but still not touching.

She had acknowledged him, so that was progress.

"He needs to give her time. She was hurt pretty badly in her last relationship. I think she sees that he's a good guy, she just needs some time."

"I have a feeling he'll give her all the time in the world."

Bella kissed me softly, pulling herself up in my arms and then hitching her legs around my hips. I carried her up to the house, kissing her gently, feeling relaxed and unhurried. I wanted to be close to her.

I noticed once more that I wasn't honking as I kissed her anymore, and I worried that my plane-induced honking meant something more had happened between us, and that was why I could kiss her so casually now, anxiety-free.

Dinner was quiet except for the occasional chatting. Alice told Emmett and Rose of the village adventure and my humiliation at trying to ask the guy to cut up the pig. She was right; the dude did have a bit of a New York accent.

The night was quiet, and we all split into pairs, going to our respective rooms, taking advantage of our last night together and alone.

I pulled Bella into my arms, snuggling into her, before I tried to sleep. She kissed me a few times, as if trying to start something, but I was still nervous that we might have already done something. If we had, I didn't want to do it again and her realize she was sore after all and be upset. I slowed her attack, kissing her gently and pleaded with her to let me just hold her. She sighed and smiled up at me, cuddling back and drifted off to sleep.

I woke up screaming in panic, when something pounced on me. The giggling of the angel in my arms, and the cackling of the witch on top of us, told me it was just Alice.

"He's a jumpy one, isn't he?" Alice said from her perch on mine and Bella's hips. "Breakfast is ready!" she announced in a sing-song voice, ignoring my growl.

Bella, being the wonderful angel she was, shoved Alice off the bed, making her thump loudly onto the floor. It was my turn to laugh, as my girl buried her face in my chest, trying to go back to sleep. I was pretty sure this was what heaven would feel like.

When we did finally emerge from the bedroom, we were met with a solemn, quiet attitude.

"So, it's been fun, right?" Emmett said breaking the silence. "Alice, I hope you invite us to another tequila night. It was a blast."

Alice chuckled, rubbing Jasper's hair, "Maybe a little less tequila next time, though, huh?"

Jasper nodded his head yes in agreement.

"We could always have a good scotch fight," I offered, thinking there was no way I was ever drinking again.

Jasper suddenly looked offended. "What do you have against the Scotts? You know, I'm a quarter Scottish. My gramps could whip…"

Alice cut him off, "Scotch, as in the alcohol, in a water gun."

"Oh," Jasper answered embarrassed, as we all started laughing at him. Then he made it worse by adding. "Well, my grandpa could beat you in a water gun fight any day," he nodded firmly with a serious look on his face, causing us all to fall into hysterics.

Alice climbed into his lap giggling, and then she kissed his nose. "Oh, baby, I just love you," she said.

For a minute, I thought Jasper would freak, but he surprised us all by leaning down and kissing her gently, whispering against her lips, "I love you, too, Alice, so much."

I looked over at Emmett to see if he was seeing what I was seeing. What I saw on his face confused me even more. He looked sad, almost like he was longing for something. Did he think he was losing Jasper as a friend? I noticed his eyes dart over to Rose, and then he focused on his plate, not saying another word.

We all apologized to Juan, thanking him for his patience with us. The girls gave him a basket with some fruit and cookies they'd baked, and a huge pulled barbeque pork sandwich, so I think he was satisfied.

As we unloaded, he gave Emmett and me a one-armed hug and told us to be good. I promised him I would, and Emmett said he would try, which was good enough for Juan.

Emmett had thought ahead and had a car waiting for us. The limo was the only thing that would fit us comfortably as a pick-up car. The girls all eyed it suspiciously, before they climbed in. "It was either this or the town car and people sitting on laps," he finally grumbled. "We're rich. Get used to it," he snapped.

He sat down in a huff, and I wondered what his problem was.

We stopped at Bella's home first, where everyone was parked. I hopped out of the car, surprised to see our maid, Carol, waiting at the door. "Welcome home, boys. I trust you had a fun weekend," she spoke cheerfully. Bella looked at her confused, wondering who it was that was waiting to go into her place with a large bag.

"This is Carol. She's mine and Emmett's maid. Emmett must have called her about the mess." Bella looked like she was about to protest. "Kitchen pee," I reminded her.

She grimaced and welcomed Carol in.

Other than the kitchen, Bella's place wasn't messed up too badly.

Emmett thanked Carol profusely for coming and kissed her cheek, before he and Jasper left. Rose had given Alice a ride, but Alice insisted Bella give her a ride home, since her place was on the way to the dorms, anyway.

We loaded the contents of Alice's island shopping spree into the back of Bella's truck and headed to Alice's home. I was surprised to find that she didn't live far from Emmett and Jasper. It was a nice, generously-sized house and seemed to be very Alice.

I helped carry the bags into Alice's house and was surprised to see the mess that we had apparently made. There were iron-on letter backers all over the place, matching the ones we had used on our shirts. There were also random shapes cut out.

"I'll call Carol and…"

Alice put her hand on my shoulder, "It is fine, Edward, nothing my broom can't handle." She walked into the bathroom and let out a scream. Bella and I went running to her rescue. She was crying over her vanity bench seat that seemed to be purple and white. She looked up at Bella with sad eyes.

"It's purple!" she cried.

I realized it was the same shade of purple that Jasper had had in his hair, along with splotches of gold. There was deep red covering her tub and little foils all over the bathroom floor.

"I'm calling Carol," I insisted, pulling out my phone, "and paying her triple."

I went into the living room and waited for Bella. I sat down, closing my eyes, remembering bits and pieces of that night.

I remembered all of us expressing our love of Bella's shirts. In our drunken excitement, Bella offered to teach us how to make our own. Alice had said she had various shirts at her house we could all use. Apparently, it was important that we all had shirts to commemorate our tequila night. The girls were talking about making it a tradition. I remembered being pretty quiet, as even my mostly-quiet girlfriend chatted more than I had.

Emmett had tried to get me to loosen up, and in my drunken state, I had been all for it.

He'd said we needed to do something crazy, so I could feel alive. He'd suggested tattoos, but Alice had been against it, thank god! She'd said we needed something to make us look tough, but that we could reverse when we decided to be professional.

Hair color was decided by our girls. Bella had deemed me the golden boy, remembering my conversation with my father. I think I might have even had gold makeup on my face at one point. I silently prayed they didn't have pictures.

Strangely, I couldn't help smiling to myself. I did have fun.

Drunk, I had loved my hair, and I had joined Emmett and Jasper in a wild display of air guitar.

We totally rocked.

I remembered the girls screaming at us like groupies and Bella flashing me her boobs.

Yeah, it was a good time.

I remembered us all sitting down around the table and Jasper and I breathing heavily from our jumping, rocking air guitar performance. As I said, we were awesome. More shots were poured and _**'I never' **_was played. I remembered hearing that Bella had never been to an island and Emmett and I insisting we go to my parent's place.

The rest was now history, and I had to say, it wasn't as bad as I had first thought. Emmett was right. I did need to loosen up a little.

I just wished I could remember what happened on that plane…


	18. Chapter 18

**Dollybigmomma is my beta queen.**

**Chapter 18** - **I told your boyfriend he was gay, and he hit me with his **_**PURSE!**_

**EDWARD**

We decided I would change, and then we would go back to Bella's place, so she could change. We would head straight to my parent's estate after that.

I wondered again about Emmett's sour mood, and I hoped he would be in better spirits when we got to my parent's house, but I doubted it. My father and Emmett didn't really get along, and if my grandfather was going to be there, I was sure it would only get worse. They mostly tolerated each other for my mother's sake. I felt bad, because my dad and grandfather focused so much of their attention and praise on me. I think it was one of the reasons Emmett was as rebellious as he was. Thankfully, he didn't take his frustration with our dad and grandfather out on me. Emmett was cool like that.

Bella sat quietly, nervously fiddling with her hands, while I drove us to my parent's estate. When we pulled up to the guard house, she asked if they lived in a gated community. I just shook my head no. I waved to Devon, the gate guard, and he opened the gate for me.

"What do you mean it's not gated?" she asked confused. I pulled around the bend, and my parent's estate came into view. It had originally been my great-grandparent's home, but it was passed to my father when Emmett was born. Bella's eyes went wide, when she saw it.

"Holy cow," slipped from her lips. Bella, who was usually a girl of few words, was suddenly rambling. "Oh, my god, I'm so underdressed. Your mom is going to hate me. I'm sure your dad already thinks I'm a horrible influence. Oh, my god, Edward, I can't do this. Look at me! I'm in jeans and one of my stupid shirts!"

I glanced at the saying on her shirt and smiled.

_**Why do I have to put my two cents in, when it's only a penny for your thoughts? Where's that extra penny going to?**_

"Your shirt is perfect for the evening. My mother will love you. Don't worry; they'll blame everything on Emmett. They always do," I said sadly and grimaced a little at the end. I hoped things wouldn't get too out of hand, especially with my grandfather there. He had very high expectation for us, or at least for me.

I had stopped in front of the door, so Jeff, the valet, could park her truck. The butler, Edgar, opened Bella's door for her, causing her to squeal in fright. Jeff smirked at her reaction, and I couldn't help but smile at how cute my girl was.

"I'm so very sorry I startled you, Madam," Edgar said formally in his lofty British accent, holding a hand out to assist her. I hurried over to rescue her.

"It's alright, Edgar, I've got her," I said, as I helped her from the truck and wrapped my arm tightly around her.

"Your parents are taking dinner in the east wing this evening, Sir," Edgar informed me.

"Thank you, Edgar. Has Emmett arrived yet?" I asked.

"No, Sir, he has not, but we expect him shortly. He didn't call to cancel."

"Thank you, I can take it from here. I believe you're making my girl nervous," I informed Edgar with a whisper. Bella was staring at him wide-eyed, clinging to my side.

Edgar bowed slightly and took his leave, and I whispered in her ear, "What's so scary about Edgar?"

"Don't you read? The butler always did it. He gives me the creeps. I just wonder if he did it, too," she answered in a whisper, keeping her eyes on Edgar's retreating form.

I couldn't help but laugh at her logic. My girl was amazingly adorable when she was paranoid. I'd have to inform Edgar of her suspicions later. I was sure he would get a good laugh from it.

I opened the door, pushing Bella into the dining hall, and I could hear my mother squeal, as I stepped into the room behind Bella.

"She's here, Carlisle! Oh, look, she's so beautiful, too!" my mom gushed. Then my mother whispered, a little too loudly, "I knew he wasn't gay."

I groaned, and I felt Bella's hand tighten, trying to reassure me. She stepped back, bumping into me, and I realized why, when my mother was approaching us fast with the intent of hugging Bella. Before I could stop her, my mother had Bella up in her arms, kissing her cheeks.

"Oh, you're such a lovely girl. I'm so pleased to finally meet you!"

Bella stood stunned, her mouth hanging open. Thankfully, my father grabbed my mother's shoulders, prying her off my girl.

"Esme, dear, let the girl breathe. I know you're excited, but let them sit down, so we can get to know her a bit better, hmm?"

"Oh, yes, of course. I'm sorry, dear." My mother turned her focus on me for the first time and noticed my hair. She cracked a small smile, as if internally giggling, and said, "Edward, you look so _bright_ this evening."

I rubbed my head, letting her know I'd caught her pun. I should've known my mother would be cool about it. "I was just trying something different. It'll grow out."

"I like it," my mother said surprising me. "It makes you look your age, sweetie," she patted one of my cheeks and kissed the other.

We headed for the table and were about to sit down, when Emmett came bursting into the room. He was obviously drunk, holding a bottle in his hand. He held it up and shouted, "Bella! You made it! I'd have thought you would've run after you saw the pretentious front gates."

Bella blushed deeply, and then spoke with a smile on her face. "Edward has a good grip," she shrugged.

Emmett let out a booming laugh.

"Emmett!" my father snapped. My mother was instantly at my father's side, her hand on his arm, trying to calm him. "Don't you think you've done enough damage this weekend?" my dad sneered.

"No!" Emmett yelled back. "He still feels the need to please you and do every little thing you say," he said pointing harshly at me.

"Well, after this weekend..." my dad started, but Emmett cut him off.

"NO! _You_ almost ruined his weekend with your uptight, pushy attitude, Dad! WE'RE IN COLLEGE! We _should_ get drunk on the weekends and loosen up after a week of hell in classes. You have him taking some of the most difficult courses offered. Residency is coming up soon, and then he'll be even more strapped for a moment of normalcy. How the hell do you think he gets straight A's? I'll tell you how! By not having a life! He's never brought a girl home before now, because you and Gramps never let up! I seriously had to tie him up, drag him to the bar and shove him in her face, so he'd talk to the girl I knew he had a crush on!"

My dad looked over at me stunned. I was a deep red, completely embarrassed about this fight going on in front of Bella.

"You're exaggerating..." my father started. I was shocked when Bella cut in.

"No, he's not, actually. I washed the sheet the next day. The one they tied him up in to get him to the bar. Emmett did shove him forward a couple of times to talk to me. First, it was in the library, and then at the bar. He was half wasted, before he was able to speak to me even somewhat coherently."

My dad was glaring at the three of us. I wanted to tell Bella to keep her mouth shut. Emmett could handle things himself. The one time her being quiet would have been a good thing, and she decided to speak out instead. My mother surprised us all by pushing my father aside. I was sure she wanted to keep my father from hating Bella, and he would hate anyone who took Emmett's side.

"Well, thank heavens for Emmett then." She hugged my brother and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, sweetheart, for helping your brother." She squeezed him tighter. "Now, when are _you_ going to bring a girl home?" she asked with a raised brow.

Emmett smirked, "When I meet the right one."

My grandfather showed up shortly after that. He eyed Bella up and down, not looking pleased. "Do you attend school with the boys?" She nodded yes. I could tell she was nervous. I didn't blame her. "What is it you're studying?"

"Literature, I'd like to be a librarian. I'm doing an internship at the college library. That's where I met Edward."

My grandfather's eyes glanced at the blue streaks in her hair. They weren't very pronounced against her dark brown hair. I hoped he didn't hold it against her. "You spent the weekend with my grandsons." It wasn't a question.

I was freaking out a little, when he said that. I'd been hoping he didn't know. He had scowled at mine and Emmett's hair already. She nodded yes, her eyes dropping to her plate.

He changed his focus to me, "She has breast, which is a relief. Don't let your grades drop," he pointed his fork at me shortly.

Amazingly, the rest of the evening was quite uneventful. My father spoke quietly with my grandfather, and my mother chatted Bella's ear off, getting as much information about Bella's family as possible. Bella's voice never rose above a whisper the whole time. I think my grandfather liked that she was being seen and not really heard. He was old-fashioned and somewhat chauvinistic like that. He never did like my mother much.

I think my mother was silently planning our wedding in her head. I wouldn't be surprised if the next time we came to dinner, there was a minster waiting for us.

When we stood up to leave, Bella seemed to linger a little. I noticed her reach into her purse, and she slipped me a bottle of a really good scotch to give to my dad or granddad. I thought my grandfather would appreciate it more. He was retired and allowed to "imbibe."

I walked over to my grandfather, and he looked at me with a smile, when I handed it over.

"Better than a bottle of wine, and she has good childbearing hips for carrying sons. My mother was a librarian," he said with a nod, giving what was the equivalent of his approval of Bella.

I was happy she had gotten it, because my mom never having gotten his approval had been hard on the family. "Thanks," I said with a smile.

"Keep up the good grades, Edward. I'm proud of you," he patted my shoulder, ignoring Emmett standing beside me.

The night had gone way better than I'd thought it would, although their slighting of my brother was starting to wear thin. I had learned this weekend that Emmett was way more awesome than any of us had given him credit for.

My brother was actually pretty darned cool.


	19. Chapter 19

**Dollybigmomma is my beta lover and I'm going to visit her for Thanksgiving. I'll be visiting my in laws too. I'll most likely be MIA until Sunday, but maybe not. I hope this holds you over until then.**

**Chapter 19 - Y****ou say **_**psycho**_** like it's a bad thing…**

I kept having the same dream, or at least I thought it was pieces of the same dream. I was afraid I might have been remembering what had happened on the plane ride, but it fluctuated, so I was never sure. One minute it'd seem like a really good dream, and the next, it'd be a nightmare of epic proportions. Either way, I hoped it wasn't real. I was worried that what had really happened was lost in my subconscious with what I was _afraid _had happened, and it was making a huge mess in my head.

The dream started out the same every time...

_I helped her stay upright, as we moved to the tarmac. I could hear Emmett shouting in the background about flying the plane himself. Bella froze a few feet away from the stairs. She wasn't budging. _

"_She doesn't fly, s'why she's never seen the jungle…or…where are we going?" Alice asked Jasper. _

"_The island," Jasper answered and did a little hula dance, making me laugh and fall into Bella. Rosalie handed Bella a full bottle of tequila. _

"_I love you," I said randomly for no reason, but it wasn't the first time I'd told Bella that. I'd said it a lot to everyone frequently that night. _

"_I love you, too," she answered smiling._

"_No, you're beautiful, and I love you, and…and…I love you with my heart, right here," I said grabbing her hand and pressing it into my chest. "Do you feel my love for you?" I was pretty sure I closed my eyes and hummed, keeping her hand trapped against my chest. I opened my eyes, when I heard her giggle. I pulled her into my arms, and she used my body to steady herself, so she could take a few good swigs of tequila straight. Alice took the bottle from her and handed her a green plastic lime full of juice. Bella sucked that down and stamped her feet, before she repeated the process again. She had done it three more times, when Juan showed up with a proud-looking Emmett. _

"_I'm going to fly the plane, not Emmett," Juan reassured us. "I'm going to file the flight plan, please get seated." _

_We all cheered sloppily and stumbled to the stairs. Bella and I were last. My arm was hooked through hers, and it was pinned painfully tight against her. I waited to see if she would settle down, but it didn't seem to be working. _

"_Just drink some more!" Alice shouted out to her and tossed the little lime thing to me. It hit me in the head, but Bella released me to go pick it up. She kept drinking, and I wondered if she was going to puke. I had vomited three times already, and I think everyone else had vomited at least once. It was our body's natural defense against alcohol poisoning, and when I told that to everyone, Emmett laughed and said we were all trying to kill ourselves. _

_I realized as I watched Bella with the bottle of tequila that she was drinking a lot. I worried that she was going to do some real damage to her body, and I told her I thought she should stop. She shook her head at me, but when Juan was ready to board the plane, I handed the bottle off to him and carried my girl up the stairs. She was screaming the whole time, but I wasn't sure if it was because I'd almost dropped her several times or because she didn't want to fly._

"_Take her back to the suite. It feels more like a room and not like a plane," Juan suggested…_

And that was where my dreams would get random. Most often, she'd start panicking and cry that her clothes were choking her, and she'd take them all off. From there, things got dangerous. Sometimes, I had her pinned, other times, she had me pinned. There was touching in some dreams, puking in others. I was pretty sure we didn't have sex, because my anxiety about having sex was pretty prevalent in all of my dreams. That was one very consistent thought. Sometimes, she'd coax me, other times, I was sure I wanted to, but I was still scared. In all of them, I was horrible.

If we had had sex the way my dreams portrayed it, I hoped she didn't remember it. In my nightmares, I'd barely gotten it in and came immediately without even a full pump. I wasn't a one-pump chump…I was a half-a-pump chump. My performance was horrible in all of them. Yes, it was a nightmare, and I prayed it wasn't true and not something she'd ever remember. My short run of half a pump ended up in her vomiting and passing out, so yeah, a nightmare, definitely a horrible nightmare, that I was sure wasn't true and just my imagination throwing my anxieties in my face.

Emmett really thought I'd had sex on the plane, but he also thought we'd been sexually active before "tequila weekend." I'd never said we were, and I'd never said we weren't. I'd never offered up any input when he talked girls, but had listened intently when he spoke in hopes of picking up pointers for when Bella and I were ready to take the next step. I hoped that his guess was based on his misinformation.

My nightmares of bad performance were starting to affect mine and Bella's relationship. We definitely had the kissing part down, and I'd spent the night at her apartment several times a week. Her place wasn't close to campus, but we'd ride together there for work and school. She was basically there every day to work in the library. I would admit to a few heavy make-out sessions in my dorm room as well. I was thankful I'd opted out of the full college experience of sharing a dorm room with another person. My grandfather and father both believed it would be best if I had quiet, so I could focus on my studies. Bella had been great about being patient when it came to me doing schoolwork. She knew my assignment schedule almost as well as me. She really was the perfect girlfriend.

Our real, not drunken "I love you's" came just two days after "tequila weekend." I could tell she was still stressed about my family. My grandfather and father were difficult to deal with. They had a way of making you feel their expectations for you clearly. I knew she felt that and was struggling with it. I was scared I was going to lose her, and I blurted it out in a rush. She was always quiet, but it felt like she was being less communicative than usual. We usually had a feeling of contentment around us, but that had disappeared. Thankfully, it returned when I confessed that I loved her and I would do anything she'd ask to keep her in my life. I was so relieved, when she promised to do the same.

Bella and I had lunch in the park every day. I took over paying for the food, because it didn't put a strain on my budget at all. I had picked up several casseroles from the grocery store, when we went shopping together. She scrunched her eyebrows at me in confusion, and I flat out told her that I was buying lunch for my friends. She looked like she was about to protest, but I made my point clear in four words, "They're my friends, too."

Several of the men inquired about Tom, and I kept them apprised of his situation. He was doing great at Emmett's place. I knew his recovery time was coming to an end, though, and fast. I didn't want to send him back onto the streets. It really bugged Emmett, too. "I can't just kick the guy out, Edward, especially knowing that he doesn't have a place to go. He's my buddy. We hang out all the time, and the dude has actually helped me with my papers. Tom is wicked smart when it comes to editing shit. I'm not sure I can give him up."

We both decided to try and find a way to take care of Tom. But as I sat with the other men at lunchtime, I couldn't help but feel guilty for singling him out. It felt all too familiar to favor one person over another. Emmett and I had both dealt with that on opposite sides of it, and neither of us liked it.

I decided to do my best to level the field by bringing my doctor's bag to check out the men. I had to pick up one of my cars and keep it on campus to drive them around. Bella still preferred her truck to my car, and I did indulge her often, because I loved her. She'd concede to my SUV when it came time to visit with the men, knowing that there was a good chance I'd have to transport someone to the clinic.

A couple of them had serious infections, and my father treated them with shots of antibiotics. He told me later when we were alone that he used the shots instead of pills to keep them from selling them. He considered my treating the homeless a sort of "extra credit" and didn't discourage me, since it wasn't affecting my grades.

I wanted to tell him the men wouldn't sell the medicine, but the truth was I really didn't know if they would. They lived in desperate conditions, and I wouldn't blame them if they did. I took what my father said and filed it away for when I would be a doctor. It was one more thing that fueled my desire to do something to get them off the streets. We needed to come up with a plan to help them, and we did.

I was driving across town to a jeweler to try and find Bella a gift for our six-month anniversary. I passed a home improvement store and was surprised to see a house in their parking lot. It was a full-blown house just sitting there in the lot like it was nothing. I immediately stopped and went to check it out. It turned out to be a shell house and extremely cheap. I called Emmett immediately. We devised a plan and put it into action. I knew it would be a much better gift for Bella and would mean much more to her than any piece of jewelry ever would.

**A/N Happy Thanksgiving!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Dollbigmomma is my beta lover and awesome cook! I love her best.**

**Chapter 20 -**** If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something**

It was hard to believe it had been six months from when I'd fallen at Bella's feet in Alice's bar. Time had flown by, and even though I was still nervous about taking the next step and making love to Bella, I was pretty sure it was going to happen on our anniversary. It had been two months since "tequila night" had happened, and the dreams had finally subsided. I studied up and planned to do things right. Even if I was a half-pump chump, I was determined she would enjoy the evening anyways. I really hoped I'd be at least a one-pump chump, still embarrassing, but not as humiliating.

She had no clue what was going on, when I took her to an empty field for a picnic. We'd lain back after our meal, enjoying each other's company.

"You've never asked why I don't talk to people. Aren't you curious?"

"Yes, but I figured you'd tell me when you were ready."

"Have you ever said something that's changed the course of a person's life completely?"

"No, I don't think I have that power."

"You do, everybody does." She rolled away from me, but I pulled her tight against me, her back to my front. Whatever she was going to tell me obviously would be difficult, and I wanted her to know I'd be there for her.

"Over the years, I've found being silent has benefited me. People tend to crumble when you don't talk. You've burst into rambling fits on several occasions, letting me know what was really going on in your head. I think if I was chatting away, you'd have kept your mouth shut and driven yourself crazy."

She was right. When my fears were getting the best of me, I did tend to blurt out my true feelings. I found I didn't hide anything from her. I kissed her neck and agreed with her.

After a moment, she went on. "I was very talkative as a child. I think my parents were happy in the beginning. I do remember my mother smiling at my father, but the older I got, the less frequently it happened. I demanded a lot of attention from my mother. I was an only child, and I had no one to talk to besides her. I was always getting in the way of my parents. I never gave them time to resolve whatever issues they had.

"I was seven, when I changed my father's life and made him miserable. It was my words that made my mother leave, my accusation of her being a terrible mother. I'd said it while throwing a childish tantrum. I didn't really think she was a bad mother at the time, but it was too late. The words were out there, and she took them to heart and left.

"When my dad came home, he freaked out. He was mad that she'd just left me there alone, thinking she'd only run out to the market, and he even convinced me that was what she'd done, but by the next morning, it was clear she wasn't coming back.

"My dad pulled together a search party to find her. He was sure something had happened to her. He came home late that night with a black eye. I begged him to tell me what'd happened, but he wouldn't. He finally snapped at me, shouting at me. He'd never done that before, and it scared me. I realized that my words had chased my mother away, and I didn't want to do the same to my dad. I was afraid I'd say something to make him leave me, too, and I didn't want that to happen.

"I totally stopped talking for a long while. My father was in too deep of a depression to notice, until a year later, when the teachers brought it to his attention. Then I only spoke to my father when he'd ask me questions. With time, the way we interacted changed. I learned to convey things to him even without talking, and it felt more genuine.

"When Billy lost his wife, my dad hung out with him a lot. Jake got me talking, but I still didn't like talking around his friends. Our conversations were kept private, and eventually it turned into him talking and me listening. I saw how much it helped him to talk to me while I stayed quiet, so I just did. It eventually became part of who I was, and I haven't chased anyone else away with my words since."

I rolled her over to face me and kissed her. I wanted to reassure her that she hadn't really run her mother off, that there had to have been other problems between her parents, but I didn't think it was something she would want to hear or believe right now given how long she had been thinking that way.

Instead, I just whispered, "Thank you," against her lips and held her tighter.

"I love you," she answered me.

"I love you, too."

"With your heart here?" she teased pressing her hand to my chest, and my anxiety ramped up.

I blushed, mortified. "Bella, have you remembered anything else from the plane ride?"

"Parts, but not much, that tequila kicked in pretty hard."

"I'm afraid we did something. I know you said we didn't, but I keep having these dreams…" I confessed not sure if I'd make her angry.

"We did a lot, but we didn't do that. I'd have remembered if we had. Like I said, I wasn't sore down there, at least not that I could distinguish."

I let out a sigh of relief, "Good, that's good. I wasn't good in my dreams _at all_."

She laughed, and it startled some birds out of a nearby tree. "So, are you ever going to tell me why we're in the middle of nowhere?"

"Well, it's not actually nowhere. It's the site of a new housing development called Swan Estates. It's your anniversary present."

"Swan Estates?"

"Yeah," I answered with a shrug, trying to think of a way to explain what it was.

"You're naming a community after me?" She didn't sound impressed.

"Not just any community, but one for people without homes."

"Without…" she cut me off, jumping up on her feet, "Do you mean you're starting a shelter?"

"Well, something like that, but more permanent. I'm giving them a house, not a room."

"Are you kidding me?"

Her eyes were wide and excited, her smile was huge, and I knew this was a much better way to go instead of jewelry.

"I've already got plans for the houses to be started next week. I want everything ready before winter hits again."

"HOLY COW! That's amazing! Oh, my god, Edward, that's just the best ever…" She didn't finish her sentence; instead, she jumped on me, kissing me hard. Things progressed between us fast after that, and I was proud to say that I was not a half-pump, one-pump or even a two-pump chump. I wasn't able to hold out for her, but I did make sure she was thoroughly satisfied. My research had paid off.

"That turned out better than I thought," she giggled.

"Yeah, did you doubt my abilities?"

"No, I just thought it'd hurt more. Alice told me to take some pain medicine before we did the deed, and I did earlier. I was worried that it'd wear off, though. I should probably take some more. I'm okay with you using condoms, but you should know that I'm on birth control, so if you want to forgo them…"

I shrugged. "We'll see what happens when the mood strikes us again."

She pinned me to the ground, "And what if the mood is striking me right now?"

I was quick to rise to the occasion, "If you're sure you're okay for it."

She nodded yes and slid right down on me. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and I barely held it together as she rode me. I was losing control and pounded up into her, while slamming her hard and fast down at the same time. I mentally fist pumped when she cried out, and her body fluttered around me. I came at the first sign of fluttering, but I was able to hold it together enough to let her get hers at the same time, too. I had done it, she was mine.

"It's strange that I'm not sore."

If I hadn't just given her an orgasm, I would've been worried about my dick size being inadequate. I wasn't a monster, but from what I remembered in gym class, I was pretty much a regular size. There were a few larger than me and a few smaller, so I figured I was average. I almost told her that, but decided it was best to keep it to myself.

"I might've lost it when I was doing gymnastics, though. They say that's a possibility." She looked up at me worried. "You really were my first."

"I know." I kissed her softly, letting her know I believed her. I was thankful that her gym class had taken the painful part of our first time away. I would have felt horrible for hurting her. "I love you," I whispered into her hair as we cuddled.

"I love you, too."

It was the best night of my life, ever, and I knew it'd be hard to top, but I was sure it could be done, as long as I had my girl with me.


	21. Chapter 21

**Dollybigmomma is my beta lover.**

**Chapter 21 - **_**A word to the wise isn't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice..**_.

**EDWARD**

Construction on Swan Estates was moving along smoothly. Emmett was helping shoulder the weight of the work coordinating it all. I wanted to get as much done before July as possible. I'd be starting my residency then, and I wouldn't have time to oversee anything. I didn't have much time as it was, but I'd have a lot less in the coming months.

Tom let Emmett know that there were a few guys in the group that worked construction, so we asked that they be hired to work on the homes they'd eventually be living in. There was a huge amount of excitement going into it all. Talk of the estates dominated at lunchtime. Plans for a community garden were made. A barn was designed and was in the works.

I had wells dug for the community to avoid water bills, and I was going to have purification systems installed in each house. There were septic tanks put in to keep them off the grid. It all came down to electricity, and I had done what I could to find ways to save on that as well.

Bella, the little genius she was, saw that I was looking over ways to start my own energy company just to negate any problems they would have, when she told me about an ingenious little prototype.

The Bloom Box™ from Bloom Energy®

A few of these little very expensive boxes could power the whole community if they were energy savvy. I spoke with the company president and let him know that I was building an energy efficient community and would like to buy his product and try it out. The use of it in charity work such as we were doing would give them ample free press and proof that it could be used to power an efficient U.S. home easily. We were thrilled when they agreed, and we were able to take the homes off the actual grid.

Joe was one of the guys I checked out at lunch. My dad confirmed that most of his hearing loss was due to a bad double ear infection. He did some swabs of Joe's ears to be sure to use the right antibiotic on him, and I was supposed to bring Joe by after my last class, when my father would have the test results back. Joe seemed nervous, as we drove up into the medical plaza. "Is everything alright?" I practically shouted.

He looked at me with a soft frown and nodded yes, but continued to fidget. When we pulled up to the building, he finally spoke.

"Hospitals make me nervous," he said warily.

I nodded in understanding. He wouldn't be the first one to have had a bad experience in a hospital. Many people had to leave behind loved ones, never to see them alive again. It wasn't something a lot of them wanted to relive.

I pointed to a bench outside the doors. "Why don't you wait outside?" I shouted at him.

He nodded okay, heading for the bench, while I headed inside. I found my dad in his office.

"I brought Joe in," I shouted. My dad raised an eyebrow at me with a smirk. "Sorry, I was talking with Joe," I said in my normal voice.

"That's fine, Son. What room is he in?"

"He's waiting on the bench outside. The hospital makes him nervous."

"He needs to be observed for at least thirty minutes after the shot, Son. He needs to come in so the nurses can keep an eye on him."

"I can sit with him," I offered. "We'll be on the bench right outside the door if he needs help."

My father let out a disappointed sigh, but followed me outside to where Joe was waiting. I stood next to them, blocking the view of Joe's hip as my dad gave him the shot.

Joe thanked my dad, the sincerity clear in his eyes.

My dad came out at the end of the thirty minutes to let us know Joe was free to go. Joe thanked us both, before he told me he was fine just walking back to the park on his own. I let him go reluctantly; standing with my father and watching Joe cross the parking lot.

"You know, Edward, I'm so hard on you, because I want you to be the best. As a doctor, you _will_ fail at times

. It's inevitable. There's nothing you can do about it. People will die on your watch. I just hope that if you study hard enough, if you're the best, then you won't second guess yourself and wonder if there was something you should've done different. You'll lose patients, Son, and I just want you to be confident enough in your abilities that you won't second guess your decisions. There's nothing more dispiriting than self-doubt. Attachment to patients will exacerbate that. Keep your distance."

I was letting what my father said settle in my head, when he spoke again. "Hey, isn't that Bella?" he asked pointing across the street.

Sure enough, I watched Bella and Alice walk into the building across from the hospital. My dad cleared his throat.

"Edward, is there something you want to tell me?"

I looked at him confused. He nodded toward the building, and I realized Bella and Alice had just walked into Planned Parenthood.

I struggled to catch my breath. What if we really had done something on the plane and now she was pregnant? It wasn't as if either of us had been in our right minds enough to use protection that night, and I didn't know when her birth control was effective. Did I mention that I was never drinking again?

"Oh, crap," I gasped.

"Edward?" my father called to me sternly. "You wouldn't be so completely stupid and have unprotected sex, would you?" I cleared my throat, choking a little on my tongue, trying to find some sanity.

"Well, she'll have to get an abortion. There's just no way…" my father started.

"What? No! If she's pregnant, she'll have the baby, and I'm helping her!"

"You don't know what you're talking about. Emmett was born during my first year of residency. It was a nightmare. You know how much I love your mother, but we almost divorced. You won't survive the pressure of school and raising a child, Edward. It's just too much work for anyone to handle."

"She's not having an abortion!"

"It's not your choice! Thank heavens Bella seems like someone who can be reasoned with. I'm sure she won't want this to interrupt her schooling, either."

"No, don't you dare talk to her!"

"Edward…"

"I'll tell Mom! You know she'll take my side. She wants grandkids!" I snapped, hitting him in the only weak spot my father had. It was low, but I was desperate. He stood there, glaring at me silently, and I took his silence as confirmation that he'd keep his mouth shut and stay away from Bella.

Oh, god. This couldn't be happening now…

I hopped in my car and took off, not knowing where I was going. I ended up at my brother's place, sitting in the driveway. He finally came out and pulled me out of the car. "What's up, man? You look like someone stole your puppy."

"Dad wants Bella to get an abortion," I blurted out.

It took a moment for my words to register.

"She's pregnant?"

"I don't know. We saw her walking into Planned Parenthood."

"Don't sweat it, dude. She could've gone there for a ton of reasons. It was probably just time to get a refill on her birth control. They do that there, you know."

His words were encouraging. She had told me she was on birth control, so it was very possible that was what she had been doing. I still didn't know when she'd started her birth control or if she had been on it at the time of our flight.

I didn't want to believe we had lost our virginity on the plane, but as things settled in my mind, it became clear that the first time she remembered might not have been the first time after all. She wasn't hurt at all. Her hymen was obviously gone already. She'd said gymnastics might have done it, and I had been buying that story, until I watched her walk into Planned Parenthood.

"I think you need to talk to her, dude. Without solid info, you're just guessing, and jumping to conclusions, which will only drive you nuts. Be honest and ask questions. You know you're not going to feel better until you do." I didn't know when Emmett had become so brilliant. I think I was just now noticing it, because Bella had stood up for him at my parents' home.

He was right, of course, but how did I bring that up? "Hey, honey, I don't know for certain if we actually had sex on the plane or not, but I was just wondering if you might be pregnant?"

Yeah, not likely to end well, especially since she was sure we hadn't done anything on the plane.

I found myself standing outside of the club. I knew the girls were all sitting in there talking, most likely about someone being pregnant. I made my way inside, surprised the door was unlocked. They must have been really distracted to leave the door unlocked and unattended. I approached the back office and heard the girls talking.

"Maybe you can ask Edward if he knows how he feels about kids," Rose suggested.

"No, it's best to ask him outright," Alice said.

"I think he'll be a good dad," Bella said, as if she was trying to get up the courage to speak to me.

"Either way, it doesn't matter. I should get shopping for the little one. As stressful as it is, I'm really excited about the baby," Alice said.

I tried to stay upright in the hall, stunned by their conversation. I failed and thumped against the door. Rosalie jerked it open and stared at me, annoyed as I stumbled in.

"Hey, Bella," I said, trying to keep my voice from cracking and failing. She walked over, looking at me worried. I was such a jerk for freaking out on her, but how often did a guy overhear that he was about to become a father? Freaking out was only the beginning!

"I'm sorry," I finally blurted out, as she pushed into my arms.

"For what?"

"For…for…for..."

"Edward," she said, holding my face in her hands, "What happened?" My face scrunched up. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Edward, were you listening in?" Alice asked a little too nicely. I nodded my head yes. "So, what do you think?" Alice asked.

"I-I'll be there for her and for the baby, no matter what," I choked out weakly. Bella looked at me confused.

"Edward, who do you think is pregnant?" I glanced down at Bella's stomach. "I'm not pregnant!"

I let out the breath I was holding. "Oh, thank god," I whispered. She shoved me back against the door and stormed across the room.

"Hey, chill out, Bella. He said he'd be there for you if you were. That was pretty sweet. Give the guy a break," Alice tried to calm my avenging angel. I looked up at her furious face.

"Why would you think it was me? I told you I was on birth control. Do you think I have some plan to trap you?" she snapped at me.

"Emmett thought that we…on the plane…I didn't remember…you didn't remember…and then I saw you walking into Planned Parenthood with Alice." My eyes darted to Alice's tiny form, and for the first time, I saw her hand resting on her tummy. "Alice?" She smiled at me and nodded yes. "Oh…um, congratulations! Jasper will be thrilled," my words stumbled, since I was still a little shaken up.

"You think?" Alice asked hopefully.

"Yeah, he will. He's been talking about you nonstop since he met you, white picket fence and babies included. I think Emmett is ready to burn his ears off." I noticed that Rosalie looked away from me, when I said Emmett's name.

"Really?" Alice said with tears in her eyes.

I dusted myself off and hugged her. "Really, and if for some insane reason he gives you any trouble, you tell me. Emmett and I will set him straight for you, but I really don't think it'll come to that. He's crazy about you."

"Oh, thank you, Edward! I feel so much better about this now." Alice squeezed me tighter than I thought a little person could, and then released me. She pointed sternly at Bella. "You're not allowed to be upset with him."

Bella rolled her eyes at her.

"No, Missy, even freaking out and not ready to have a baby, he was willing to do whatever it took to be there for you. Even if you're not pregnant, that means something, Bella. Besides, just because you're not pregnant now, doesn't mean you won't ever get pregnant, my dear."

My eyes widened in fear, and I suddenly thought that maybe sex was overrated, if it could cause such panic and upset like that. Birth control was not one hundred percent effective, and I wasn't ready to risk it. She didn't need my dad pressuring her, either.

"Bella and I aren't going to have sex," I announced to no one in particular. I just needed to clarify it to myself to know I was safe. I heard gasps all around me. "I don't want kids. We shouldn't risk it."

Bella's eyes widened, Alice gasped and Rosalie started to cry. Then I realized I'd told Bella I didn't want to have kids with her.

Crap.

She turned and stormed out of the office. I was about to chase after her, but Alice grabbed my arm. "It'd be best if you gave her some time to cool down."

I had just screwed up…big time.


	22. Chapter 22

**Dollybigmomma beta'd this. I hope you'll give her some love and show some mercy to me as we delve into Bella's POV.**

**Chapter 22 – ****Perhaps when you set out to make an impression, you shouldn't have left teeth marks…**

**BELLA**

Alice was freaking out about being pregnant, and Rose suggested we talk to Edward to see how Jasper would react, but it was decided that it would be best to ask Jasper himself how he felt about kids.

There was a thump on the door, and I was surprised to see Edward stumble in, looking like death warmed over. He was stuttering and upset. I could tell by the panic in his eyes and the shaking of his body that something horrible had happened. His usual pale color was ashen gray, as if he was about to pass out. He started stuttering incoherently, causing me to really worry, wondering what the heck had happened to my poor boy. Then it finally came out. He thought _I_ was the one who was pregnant.

He still thought we had done something on the plane, before my birth control had become effective. Of course, none of that hurt as much as his reaction when he found out I wasn't pregnant. It devastated me, his absolute relief and his thanking god, like me being pregnant with his child would have been the absolute worst thing ever.

All of my insecurities hit me at once.

I didn't have a mother, so how the hell would I even know how to be one? Did he think that because my mother had left me at such a young age, I would be incapable of being a good mom? Or even worse, that I would end up just like my mom, walking out on my kid?

No, I couldn't, I wouldn't ever do that to my kid.

Once he figured out it wasn't me who was pregnant, he decided he didn't want to have sex with me, because he was afraid I would get pregnant. I guess he would never want to risk _me_ being the mother of his kids. That would have been a living hell for him, judging by the way he had come in here looking on the verge of death. It was obviously the worst thing that could ever happen to him.

I felt like he had punched me.

No, I only wished he had punched me. It would've hurt a lot less.

I had to get out of there.

The way he talked about Jasper loving Alice, the way Jasper had talked about loving her and wanting a home and a child with her, it hurt. It was obvious Edward believed that was what Jasper wanted with Alice, yet he didn't want those things with me. There was no picket fence and children in our future. I had been so stupid to think he would want anything like that with someone like me. I didn't know what the hell he was using me for, but it had to stop. It hurt too much, and I couldn't do it anymore.

I grabbed a bottle of tequila, as I hurried past the bar. I jumped in my truck and looked back at the club. I laughed bitterly at how stupid I had been to believe he really loved me and would want me in his future. He didn't even bother to come after me.

I called Jake crying.

"Bella, honey, what's wrong? Please, you're scaring me. I'm going to kill whoever hurt you."

Then I spoke. I knew he hadn't heard me speak to him directly in a while, but I had to. He had to know how much I needed him.

"Please, Jake, I need you," I begged.

"Of course, I'm on the rez, will you be okay to drive here?" he asked.

"Yeah," I muttered and hung up.

When I pulled up to his house, Jake was waiting for me on the porch. He ran out to meet the truck and opened my door, pulling me into his arms. I wished he could fix me. I wished he could make it not hurt so much.

He carried me inside and tucked me into his bed, curling around me. He brushed the wet hair away from my tear-stained face and kissed my cheek. "Just say the word, girl, and I'll have the pack make him disappear."

I half laughed and half cried at that. I rolled over in his arms, hiding my stupid ashamed face in his chest. How could I have been so gullible? I had listened to the guys for years now, talking about things they'd said or done to wrap the women they used around their finger. How could I have been so stupid to let it happen to me?

"Why am I so stupid, Jake?" I whispered. "I obviously don't fit into his world. I don't fit anywhere with him. I don't know what the hell I was thinking."

"Bella, don't be down on yourself, you fit everywhere."

"Not with him and his stupid mansion. Hell, his parent's house make the Hollywood mansions on _Cribs_ look like guesthouses. The thing was freaking huge. I was so stupid. I asked him if his family lived in a gated community. They don't, they just have their own gated guardhouse and a valet guy who laughed at me, because the stupid creepy butler opened the car door, scaring the crap out of me."

"A butler, huh? I wonder what he's done," Jake said squeezing me tighter, ignoring my humiliation.

"I know, right? I told Edward that, and he laughed at me. He thought it was funny, when I told him the butler always did it!"

"Well, you know the people who employ the butler never know what's going on, until they start finding the dead bodies," he said matter-of-factly.

He was right. The victims never had a clue. "I don't want the butler to kill Edward."

Jake kissed the top of my head. "You could have Charlie do a background check on the guy."

I let out a sigh, as I thought about our differences. I fit with Jake. We were on the same level, and he just seemed to get me. He was comfortable and safe, and that was what I needed right now. I needed to be safe with someone I knew would never hurt me.

"His mom thought he was gay," I stated changing the subject and finding reasons why his parents didn't throw me to the guard dogs.

Jake laughed a little. "I could see that, with his shirts always tucked in and those belts he wears. Of course, I just thought he was a nerd. Add some thick glasses, with white tape on the bridge and some hair pomade, maybe a pocket protector, and you'd have a gay nerd."

I elbowed him. I thought Edward was cute. I remembered the way he shook and paled, so scared of me, when his brother shoved him in front of me. His blush made even his ears glow. Emmett had forced him to say something about me. He complimented my shirt, and in a sense, my brain, even if he didn't know it. I hated myself for recalling the moment. I'd obviously read too much into it.

When I'd found him talking with Tom, treating him like a normal person, I fell for him a little more. Then Tom announcing that Edward had walked into a tree while he was thinking of a girl had excited me. But now, I wasn't sure if it really had been me he had been thinking of. He could have been thinking of someone more suited for him, someone he wanted to build a future with. I'd been so arrogant to assume it was me that'd had him so distracted.

I had made such a fool of myself.

He was obviously drunk at the club, when he said he would worship me. Any sane girl would know not to believe a drunken guy's declarations. I had made such a mess of myself. I curled up into a smaller ball, and Jake snuggled me closer. "I'm sorry he hurt you, Bella."

I cried myself to sleep in Jake's arms.

I woke up the next day with the sun blinding me. Jake was up and digging through his drawer, looking for a shirt to wear.

He pulled out two of them, "One for me and one for you. Which shirt you want, Bella boo?"

He held up two different shirts I had given him. One was a gag gift and one I knew he wore frequently. I snatched the one he wore frequently from his hand and went off to the bathroom. I wondered if he would actually have the guts to wear the other shirt. The saying on it was funny, but could be taken as a bit risqué.

_**I miss licking it, sucking it, slurping the sticky wet juices off of it. Damn it! I wish I didn't drop my popsicle! **_

When I came out of the bathroom, he was wearing a different shirt I had given him.

_**Don't touch the red button... **_

_**Ooh, what does this button do**_?

Pussy boy couldn't handle wearing the gag shirt. I guess he was trying to cheer me up.

"So, Bells, I have your birthday present…" he started but then corrected, "Well, actually, it started out as your birthday present, but I didn't finish it in time, so I thought what the hell, I'll give it to you for Christmas. But that didn't happen, either, so I figured maybe Easter. But as you'll soon find out, it doesn't fit inside an egg," he said leading me to his shed/garage. "We've just been so busy with finals."

I suddenly felt like such a jerk. I hoped he wasn't missing any of his finals. "Jake, I'm not making you miss..."

He cut me off, "No, I had my last class early yesterday, so we're good. Are you missing anything important I should be dragging your butt to?"

"No, not until tomorrow."

"Alright then, we're both open for some fun all day today." He flung the garage door open with a flourish, "Happy birthday, Christmas, Easter, and summer vacation, Bella," he announced proudly.

"So this is why I had IOUs in my birthday and Christmas cards. You were busy working on these?" I asked pointing to the black motorcycles.

He nodded his head happily. "Yeah, you know, I figured I should get both of them running, so you'd have someone to ride with."

"My dad is going to kill you."

"I got you a helmet," he said pushing one into my hands. I knew even with a helmet, my dad would still kill him. "Besides, he's going to have to catch me first!" he said.

We pulled out the bikes, and he went over the basic controls with me. "I'll let you go first, so I can keep an eye on you," he offered.

I nodded and started up the motorcycle. It jerked a little.

"Whoa!" Jake called out.

It felt good to be a little wild and reckless. I needed to feel a little free, because right now, I felt so trapped and broken. My heart was my prison guard, and I was trying to distract it.

I didn't know how long we had been riding, but Jake pulled up in front of me and pointed to his gas tank. I nodded and turned back the first chance I got, and he followed me back to his place. I parked the motorcycle where it belonged. The ride was long, good and peaceful. I was glad for the break.

Jake pulled up and parked next to me smiling, "Feeling a little better, girl?"

I nodded yes, as I rolled my shoulders and shook out my arms that were sore from holding on.

"So, I noticed you had a bottle of tequila with you. Do you plan on me losing another tooth this evening? I have a better dental plan now. I can actually get it repaired in a timely manner."

I laughed, remembering the last tequila binge we'd had. We had made the mistake of lying on his roof and looking up at the stars while we drank. It didn't take long before the stars where just fuzzy streaks across a blurry sky, making me dizzy and sick to my stomach. Jake, being the daredevil, decided to try and jump off the roof onto his trampoline. The trampoline was likely more than ten years old and definitely not jump safe after years of weathering outside.

To my sheer amazement, the damn thing held, and he insisted that I jump down and join him. He said something about flying down like the drunken little Swan bird I was. Yeah, it sounded like a good idea at the time. I was sure those were a lot of drunken people's famous last words.

I jumped down, not brave enough to body flop as Jake had. The centralization of my weight was not a good thing on the weather-worn trampoline. It caught me, but started to tear, and in my drunken stupor, I started to panic and tried and get off, causing Jake to flop around and eventually to be thrown off the trampoline. He landed on a shovel that was lying in the yard. The handle of it popped up and hit him in the mouth, knocking his tooth loose.

He rolled over just in time to have me fall off the trampoline onto him, hitting him in the nuts and banging my head on his already loose tooth, knocking it all the way out.

Of course, I had to top off the night by puking on him.

Jake, being the awesome friend he was, burst out laughing as he curled into a ball, covered in puke and missing a tooth. He squeaked a little, still in pain from my hitting his nuts, but he finally spoke. "Thanks, Swan, for a night I'll never forget."

"Are you sure you can handle a flying Swan?" I asked smiling at the memory. It had taken him four months before he was able to get his tooth fixed. "Or are you just looking to try out your dental plan?"

He rubbed his hand over his mouth, as if he was thinking. "Soda it is then."

Wise choice.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 - **_**I'm nobody, nobody is perfect, therefore I'm perfect!**_

**EDWARD**

I stayed at the bar, hoping she'd come back, but she didn't. I ended up drinking, even though I'd sworn off it. I needed something to tamp down the panic and pain.

At some point, someone called Emmett to take me home. I spent the next week hiding in my dorm room and drinking. She didn't answer any of my calls, and I knew it was hopeless. It was over.

Emmett stopped by my dorm room, most likely to sober me up. He pushed some notebooks at me. "I got you some notes. You don't want to fall behind." I looked at the notebooks, stunned. _My brother had notes, for me?_

"So, um, when you're done with them, let me know, so I can get them back to the chicks they belong to." He started to leave, but I stopped him.

"Hey, Emmett?" I said, and he turned around, "Thanks."

He nodded. "See you tomorrow."

I looked at the names on the notebooks and flinched.

Tanya, Irina and Kate Denali.

They were all friends of our family and just as wealthy. Unfortunately, they all had been trying to nab my brother and me for forever. Something about not wanting to marry below their station, and apparently, Emmett and I were considered their station. I just wished they would stay on the train and move along.

Kate wasn't so bad. When I had told her I wasn't interested, she laughed in my face, and then she focused her efforts on Emmett. Irina, on the other hand, had been pissed when I'd turned her down. She spread rumors that I was gay all through high school.

Tanya, by far, was the worst. Not only did she not listen when I'd told her I wasn't interested, or gay, but she decided to change my mind about being gay by outright attacking me.

Of course, my breathing had gone haywire, when she kissed and rubbed against me. I was able to pant out, "Asthma," getting her to stop, when I faked an attack.

Luckily, she'd backed off.

It wasn't that the girls weren't beautiful, they were, but they were also snobby and self-centered. Everything they did was to further their "station" in life. Their lives revolved around social events and spa appointments. They were nothing like my sweet charitable Bella.

I had to find a way to get her back.

It was time to whip out the big guns.

I pulled up to my parent's estate and hurried in, asking the butler, Edgar, where my mother was. He led me down the hall to one of the tea rooms. Unfortunately, she was having tea with Mrs. Carmen Denali, mother to the three self-centered witches.

"Oh, Edward, dear! I was just telling Carmen about Bella," my mother grinned widely, twisting the knife in my broken heart.

Mrs. Denali was grimacing, "She sounds very…colorful," she said politely.

"Oh, did my mother tell you she had blue streaks in her hair, or are you referring to her personality?" I asked a little snappier than I should.

"Blue hair?" Mrs. Denali gasped, putting her hand on her chest.

"Yes, she has blue streaks in her mahogany hair. It's soft like satin and smells like strawberries. It's perfect," I added, not fully realizing that I was lost in my thoughts about my girl. At least I hoped she would be my girl again.

My mother cleared her throat, and I saw she was grinning even wider than before. "As you can see, Carmen, my boy is truly smitten with her, and she really is such a sweet girl. I can't wait to get her on the charity board. I can see her really making a mark."

My mother was right. Bella would tear up that charity board. They wouldn't know what hit them, and suddenly, there would be a lot less homeless. She could do amazing things with my family's money, and none of them would take place in a department store or spa. That was one of the things I loved about her.

"Was there something you needed, dear?" my mother asked me.

"Um, I wanted to do something special for Bella, and you know her. Money means nothing to her." I heard Mrs. Denali gasp again, but I ignored her. "I was hoping you could help me come up with something extra special for her?" I asked my mother hopefully.

She looked downright giddy. "I'm sorry, Carmen, it looks like something very important has come up, and I must bid you a good afternoon. I have to help my son woo my future daughter-in-law. Thank you for joining me for tea, but I'm sure you'll kindly excuse me now. Edgar will show you out," she said dismissing her and hooking her arm in mine. Once we were out of the tea room, she leaned in whispering, "Thank you for saving me from that dreadful woman. If I'd had to hear one more thing about her 'perfect' girls, I think I would've shot myself. Or her."

I couldn't hide it anymore. I fell apart, crying like the baby I was. I told her everything that had happened, and I wasn't surprised at the hard glare she gave me on behalf of Bella.

"I want her back, Mom. I didn't mean for things to come out that way."

"If she was on birth control, then why on earth would you accuse her of being pregnant and then act so offensively relieved when she wasn't?"

"She went to Planned Parenthood with Alice, and they were talking about babies, because Alice is pregnant."

My mother let out a sigh. "Let's see if we can fix this." She took me to her bedroom, over to a large upright jewelry box.

"She isn't really into jewelry..." I started.

"Shush, boy, I know what I'm doing," she said while opening the bottom drawer, and she pulled out a little white cardboard box. She moved the cotton from inside it and held a ring out to me. "This ring has been passed down in my family for generations."

I picked it up carefully.

"Gently," she said smiling at me, as I looked carefully at the unusual ring. "It's called a monkey's fist." The knot was mounted to a silver band. "It represents how your past is tied to your future and is never-ending. When our spouses would come to ask for our hand in marriage, this was presented to them. They were to give this to us to prove that the blessing of our parents was received. We were not to accept a proposal without it. It's not really something to wear, just to cherish and pass down, Edward. I know she'll love it."

I placed the ring back into the box and put the lid back on.

Then her eyes lit up. "Oh, I almost forgot." She dug down into the same drawer and pulled out a little gray box. "I have a feeling when it's time to ask for her hand, dear, that she'll love this. It was my grandmother's, and it just seems to fit our Bella, doesn't it?" she said, opening the box to reveal the silver band with a twisted design that held a gorgeous solitary diamond. She was right. Bella would love it.

"When I saw her, I knew she had to have it," my mother said, closing the box in my hand and holding it with me.

"Thanks, Mom. She'll love them."

She kissed my cheek, sending me on my way. Now I just had to find a way to see Bella to give them to her.

I texted Bella a few times, but they all came back undeliverable. Emmett said she probably had her phone off. I went to the library on her day, but Jake was there with someone else.

"Could you help me find Bella? I need to talk to her," I asked him hopefully.

"No way, asshole, she's living with me, and there's no way I'm letting you anywhere near her to interfere in her life again."

My world exploded, and I was crushed. "Is she…?" I wanted to ask if she was with him, if she still worked there, if I had a chance at getting her back.

"Whatever you ask, I'm not answering. She's finished out her finals, and I'm covering her shifts here. You're not getting anywhere near her ever again."

Jake wasn't budging, so I had to find another way to contact her and tell her how insanely stupid I was and how much I really loved and wanted her. My only connection to her anymore was through Rose and Alice, and Rose wasn't talking to me, either.

It took some time and Jasper pleading with Alice on my behalf for her to finally consider helping me. Once she understood where my heart really was, though, she agreed.

"I'm not surprised she's living with Jake. I always thought there was something more than 'brotherly love' on his end towards her, and he's too hot to be ignored, but I'm not one for muscle-heads. I figured it was the same for her." Alice wasn't helping at all.

Alice called and spoke to Bella. She confirmed that she wasn't staying in her apartment anymore, but was staying at Jake's home outside of town on the reservation.

It was over, she was gone, and I was alone.


	24. Chapter 24

**Dollybigmomma beta'd my crazy.**

**Check out Breath-of-Twilight's profile. I'm doing her countdown to 2014. She just finished posting the collaborated story, and there are several fun one-shots as well, so check it out!**

**Chapter 24 - **_**Nope, the Ninja costume doesn't excuse it…you're still a jack-off **_

**EDWARD**

I woke up to a bad headache, but my brother had left me water, some painkillers and a note. His note said to pack up. When I looked up, I saw my suitcase out and a letter on top. It was my notification of assignment for my residency. I looked at the address printed at the bottom of it. The address was in Port Angeles, so I assumed that would be the hospital I would be assigned to for my residency.

I had my last final today. There was a knock on my door, and then Emmett peeked in. "Hey, Bro, do you remember what I told you last night?"

"No, was it important?"

He smiled at me. "Okay, here's the deal, and you're not allowed to breathe a word of this to Dad." Now I was wondering what the hell he was getting into. "I don't need the extra pressure, and I figured he'll just be pleasantly surprised at the end, anyway."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

He let out a deep breath. "I'm in your anatomy class, because we're studying the same thing, Edward. I told Dad I was undeclared, but I'm not. We've both been accepted into the same residency program at Port Angeles General. That's why we're moving in together. I kind of told Dad that I was just going to take some time off and keep an eye on you." He looked up at me nervously. "He thinks I'm dropping out," he smirked a little to himself. "It was perfect timing for you to get drunk and need a ride. He was right in the middle of ripping me a new one, when my phone went off, and Rose asked me to pick up your drunken ass. He saw the club's name on the caller id, shut right up and sent me on my way to take care of you."

I sat there confused. "So, you're a doctor?"

He shrugged, "Almost."

"Who else knows about this?" I asked.

"Well, besides you?" I nodded. "Jasper, and well, now Rosie knows, I had to explain my leaving to her somehow, and I couldn't lie to her."

I nodded my head okay. "So, Jasper knows?"

"Yeah, we're roommates."

I looked up at him smiling, almost ready to burst out laughing. "And Dad doesn't know? He thinks you're dropping out to take care of your alcoholic brother?"

He nodded his head yes, and I busted out laughing, but not too loudly, because my head still hurt. Emmett laughed at my flinching in pain as my head throbbed.

"Shut up, Doctor Dickhead," I said throwing my pillow at him.

"I like that. Although I think I'll drop the 'head' part and just be Doctor Dick, and Rosie will be my first patient."

"Oh, god, please, my ears are bleeding."

He whacked me with my pillow, calling me a cum-sucker, but I wouldn't stop laughing at him.

"Don't make me go all Ninja on your ass," he threatened me.

"Ooh, I'm so scared," I teased back laughing.

"You don't believe I'm a ninja?" he asked pinning me down. "Did you see that? Huh, huh? Or that? Or that?" He hadn't moved, he just held me, as I laughed at his ninja faces. "I didn't think so, buddy. I'm so fast, you didn't even know I was messing you up, so you'd better step off."

There was a knock on the door, and I was surprised to see Rose standing there. She smiled at Emmett, and I could tell by the look in her eyes that she loved him. It hurt to see that. It hurt to see something I knew I didn't have.

"Your class is starting soon. You told me to come get you if you got distracted." She smirked at Emmett perched on my chest, as if it was something normal.

"Alright, babe, we're coming. Thanks for the reminder." He got up and gently kissed her cheek before she walked out.

"Come on, Doctor Cum-sucker, you have an anatomy final to take," he added a lame ninja kick and chop, before he left the room.

My brother was such a freak, but I was glad he was my brother. Living with him would make being away from Bella a little easier. Hopefully.

**BELLA**

The semester ended. I heard from Rose that Edward and Emmett had moved to Port Angeles. She also let me know Edward knew where I was in La Push. My phone was MIA. I'd lost it at some point between my last final and Jake's place. I'd like to think Edward would've tried to call or at least text me. Rose also let me know Alice was pissed at me. She didn't like that I was hiding at my pseudo-brother's house.

I was surprised when she called and asked if I was staying at Jake's in La Push, when she knew damn well that I'd been there the whole time. I had only been back to school once for my last final. Jake said he'd take my last three shifts at the library, so he was staying in town. I only let him take my shifts, because I knew I'd be a mess if someone asked me about Edward. Even Jake had stopped saying anything about him, trying to spare my tears. Alice most likely would confront me and get in my face, but she had no right. Her boyfriend/fiancé was happy to have a future with her. I didn't need her rubbing her happily ever after in my face.

Of course, none of that mattered now. Edward was in Port Angeles. Having him so close and yet so far at the same time was ripping me apart. He knew where I was, and I didn't understand why he never looked for me.

I thought maybe he'd misspoken and would try and tell me he didn't mean it. It'd be stupid, but I knew I'd take him back in a heartbeat. He hadn't come for me, though, so I guessed that was it. He was done with me. He had meant what he'd said and had moved on.

I packed up my apartment and made the final move to Forks, not forgetting the few things I'd left at Jake's as well. There was no point in hiding my broken heart from my dad. He knew something was wrong when I hugged him, just like I knew he would. He held me tighter, and I knew he understood. He had lost my mom, and I had lost Edward.

I didn't want him to know Edward had hurt me. I had been holding out hope that Edward would change his mind and want me. If he did, I couldn't have my dad hating him for hurting me. That was all pointless. It didn't matter if my father knew anymore.

I spent most of my days sitting in my room, only coming out to cook and clean for my dad. The silence between us was not unusual, but it was thicker than normal. He hadn't asked what had happened, but I think he knew I wasn't ready to talk.

I had been home about a week, when Jake showed up with a worried look on his face. He packed my bag and told Charlie he would try and fix it. My dad didn't stop him.

I put up a little bit of a fight. I didn't feel social, since I knew Edward wasn't coming for me. I knew Jake would force me to attend bonfires on the beach and visit with the pack, but I didn't want to. Charlie held the door open, while Jake carried me out. _Traitor._

Jake took me to his place in La Push and put me to bed. He held me while I cried, and it felt good to be held, when I finally did fall asleep. He said he would give me three days in bed to cry on him, but then he was forcing me out to play.

And that was just what he did. When the third day was up, he threatened to shower and dress me himself if I didn't get up and do it myself. Needless to say, I did it myself.

He had tuned up the motorcycles and insisted we take them out for a ride to make sure they were running properly. We stayed on the reservation to keep from getting caught by my dad. I knew my dad would have had a cow if he knew I was riding a death machine as he called it.

Doing something dangerous and being with Jake made things a little easier. It distracted me, when I had to focus on not wiping out and getting a wicked road rash. I just needed to stay focused on everything else but myself.

At night, things were harder to ignore, but at least Jake was there and would hold me while I cried myself to sleep. He made everything easier, and I was grateful for that. He kept me distracted, but at the same time, he didn't push me.

He decided that I should learn surfing. He said it was a lot like riding a motorcycle, which was a lie, by the way. But again, I had to stay focused if I didn't want to wipe out. After a couple of days of training, I was able to ride in on my stomach and not get flipped off the board. I didn't say I was any good at surfing, but it was almost fun.

My victory dance on the beach was interrupted by a loud howling. I turned to see what was going on and watched in shock as several guys jumped off the cliffs into the ocean. Jake just laughed and howled back.

A few minutes later, the pack descended on the beach where we were watching from, laughing and howling. Everyone picked me up and passed me around, hugging me. Quill and Embry gave Jake a hard time about keeping me to himself.

Paul was being a jerk and asked where I was sleeping. Jake cleared his throat, and I blushed. Quil rubbed my belly, saying he wanted the pup named after him. I wracked him in the balls for that. The guys shut up after that.

Jake told the guys I wanted to cliff jump, and they warned us about a storm coming in. They decided we could all go tomorrow, and Jake took me home.

We had dinner together and then readied for bed. I was changing in Jake's room, when he stepped in and quickly spun around. "Sorry, Bells, I didn't realize you were out."

I quickly put my PJ's on and walked over, tapping him on the shoulder, letting him know it was okay for him to turn around. He had been acting weird ever since the guys had harassed us at the beach. He didn't turn around, just looked at me over his shoulder and said I should climb into bed, and that he would be there shortly. He hurried out of the room and disappeared into the bathroom.

I tried to brush off his weird behavior as nothing. I didn't want to think I was pushing him away and overstaying my welcome. I didn't want things to end with him like they had with Edward. I realized without meaning to, I had become dependent on Jake, and I hated it. I wanted to find myself again. The person I was before Edward.

Jake turned off the lights and pulled me against his chest. I snuggled down into him. I didn't know if I could be strong on my own anymore. The nights were still hard, but not as bad as they once were. Maybe in time, I could pull away from Jake, when I was doing better. He was my friend, my brother, and I loved him. I knew he wouldn't let me down. At least I hoped he wouldn't let me down.

The next day, he told me to wear shorts and passed me some bandannas. "Tie these up to make yourself a top. The stretchy swimsuits will just pop right off when you jump from the cliffs," he said as he ran a rope through the belt loops of some cut-offs.

I grabbed my daisy dukes and put them on over my bikini bottoms. I got the top made and wrapped around my neck, but I needed help tying the bottom strap, since they weren't long strings like my swimsuit.

I called Jake in to help me. I noticed his eyes stayed on the floor as he approached. His hands were hot as they touched my back. Once he had it tied, he rested one hand on my shoulder, using his thumb to rub my back. It felt good, and I moaned in response. I heard him whimper, and I turned to see what was wrong. He had quickly turned his back and headed for the door. "The guys will be waiting for us, Bella. We should get a move on." He grabbed a couple of beach towels and headed for the shed. I tied my beach sneakers tightly and grabbed a new t-shirt I had made.

It said _**Death becomes her.**_

I thought it would be appropriate for our cliff diving today.

I found Jake in the garage, sitting on his bike waiting for me. He was resting his head on the handlebars.

"Jake, are you okay?"

His head popped up when he heard my voice. His brow furrowed when he saw my shirt. He would just have to get over it. He told me to follow him out to the cliff bottoms, and that I was to stay with him and not jump without him. I stuck my tongue out at him in response.

"I'm serious, Bella, I don't want you jumping without me."

I rolled my eyes at him and nodded okay.

Flying.

That was what it felt like, and it was absolutely amazing. The water was hard and unforgiving. I ended up tying my shirt in a tight knot to hold it onto my body. Jake wasn't kidding; a regular swimsuit wouldn't stand a chance against the cliff waters.

We jumped from some lower cliffs that were about twenty-five feet high. I had to say, it was freaking amazing. The rush was like nothing else. A couple of the other guys were jumping off the higher cliffs, and I wanted to try it out, but Jake didn't want to take me up there.

"Last jump, Bells. The water looks like it's getting rough." We started walking up, when Paul called to Jake, and he stopped to talk to him for a moment.

I walked ahead. I saw the turnoff for the low cliffs I was supposed to take. I looked back and saw Jake was still busy talking. I wanted to try the higher cliffs. I ran further up the path, hoping to get around the bend, before Jake saw where I was headed. It was the last jump of the day. I just wanted to try the high cliffs once before we left.

It took another ten minutes before I was able to make it to the top cliff. I could hear Jake calling, looking for me. Well, he would see me in a minute. This cliff was about fifty feet up. It was quite a bit higher. I decided to take a running jump at it. I backed up to where the edge of the path was and saw Jake running towards me, yelling at me not to jump.

I turned away from him and ran full speed at the ocean. The ground gave way to air, and I was flying. I let out a howl of excitement like the guys always did, and I was laughing before I hit the water. The water was hard, but the sting was worth it. The jump was invigorating, and it felt awesome!

I popped out of the water and saw Jake flying down after me. I moved out of his way. A giant wave swelled just as he hit the water. Because he was falling so fast, he cut right through the wave, but I didn't. I got swept up in it and was pushed towards some rocks. I fought to get away from them, but another wave came at me fast, slamming me against them hard. That was the last thing I remembered from being in the water.

"Careful, I think her arm is broken, and you don't know about her back."

"Shut the fuck up, Quil!" I heard Jake snap. "Damn it, girl! Please, God…Bella, just please be okay."

I was coughing, and I hurt all over. I felt a warm body holding me close. I felt Jake's lips on my forehead. "I got you," he whispered.

"They're here!" Paul shouted.

I heard a stranger asking what had happened.

"She got slammed against the rocks," Jake explained. "She was knocked out, but she wasn't under the water long. We were able to get her out fast and got her breathing, but her arm is broken. I don't know if anything else is."

I felt myself being moved onto a board to hold me flat. My head felt horrible.

"I'm coming with you," I heard Jake say.

"Only family is allowed."

"He's her fiancé," Paul called out.

Jake took my hand, settling in next to me, as a siren began to blare. I felt his lips on my forehead again. "I'm here, Bella."

Then I was out.


	25. Chapter 25

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**Chapter 25 - ****Those who think they know everything, annoy those of us who do.**

**EDWARD**

Living with Emmett made being without Bella not as bad, marginally. Neither of us was interested in the women at the hospital, and word got around quickly that we were a gay married couple. I didn't care, but when Emmett found out, he made sure to bring Rosalie into the hospital when she visited, and they made out in as many public places as possible.

He was now considered bisexual, but I wasn't going to tell him that. His "cheating on me" explained away my grumpy behavior and kept the overly friendly nurses away, so it worked for me.

Em and I spent most of our time sleeping, studying and discussing the cases we were working. He was better than I was, and I was surprised at how focused he could be, when he wanted to be. It really was a pleasant surprise.

He was good at keeping me distracted. Emmett pointed out that Bella had rubbed off on me. I found myself not talking unless absolutely necessary.

The thing was, besides Em, there just wasn't anyone I wanted to talk to. My silence seemed to keep people at bay, and I realized now why Bella felt so comfortable in hers.

Most people we worked with thought I was rude, because I only spoke with my superiors or when it was absolutely unavoidable, but there was one girl who seemed to be fine with my silent demeanor.

Angela worked in the lab, and where most people would voice what they wanted as they handed their test orders to her, I didn't. She would look at the lab paper, thank me, and just go back to work.

Occasionally, she would say hi to me when I approached the lab window, and I would give her a tight smile to be polite, but I didn't want to encourage her. I didn't want to get involved with any girls, because of what had happened with Bella. I would rather just avoid them altogether while I was in school. Once I was done, I probably would still avoid them and become a cranky old hermit bachelor.

I noticed Emmett talking quietly with Angela in the cafeteria, and when I approached, they shut up, and she gave me a sad smile. I glared at Emmett. I knew they had been talking about me.

"Don't look at me like that. She was wondering if you were okay, that's all. You think people don't notice you're grumpy? Well, they do, and Angela, being a nice person and knowing you don't like to talk, asked if there was anything she could do to help you out."

I growled at him, pissed at him for even thinking about talking about me.

"Oh, get over yourself, Edward. She's in a happy relationship. She can see you're hurting, and she wanted to help. I told her she was right, that you have your head so far up your ass, you're doing your own colonoscopies and not to take your bad attitude personally. You should be nicer to people, Ed. You don't know who you're hurting with your grouchy mood."

I wanted to shove him. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to hate him and tell him he was wrong, but the problem was, he wasn't. I didn't feel like eating anymore, so I went to go find a quiet place to hide until I was needed again.

I heard a familiar voice coming from the waiting room around the corner. "What the hell were you thinking, Jake? I thought I could trust you with her. You knew she wasn't in a good place, and you took her to the damn CLIFFS! How could you let her jump?"

"Charlie, I..."

"No, you don't get to call me Charlie. It's Chief Swan to you now, and I'm going to throw your ass into lockup as soon as we get back to Forks!"

Another voice sounded. "I got Quil and Paul to take your and Bella's motorcycles back to your place."

"MOTORCYCLES? Are you trying to help her kill herself, Jake? What in heaven's name made you think putting her on a death machine, when she was in that state of mind, was a good idea?"

"Char…I mean, Chief..."

"Save it, because no excuse you can give me will be good enough! My baby girl is in critical condition because of you!"

Bella was in critical condition because she had jumped off a cliff? What the hell had happened to her?

I knew Charlie and Jake wouldn't have any answers for me about Bella's condition, so I quickly went to the E-R board to find out where she was.

She was in the O-R, getting some internal bleeding fixed.

It was bad.

I rushed into the observation room, startling a couple of people who were already there. I found myself pressed against the glass as they worked and ignored the protests of the others to move.

Emmett was finally called to come in and see if he could get me to move, but once he saw who was being operated on, he told the others to leave me alone.

"Edward, why is Dr. Benge down there?" Emmett pointed out the OB/GYN next to Bella. I realized that on the very lower half of her body, she was wearing a baby heart monitor, and Dr. Benge was watching it closely, as the others operated on her.

_SHE'S PREGNANT?_

I didn't realize I had shouted that out loud, until one of the doctors on the floor glared up at me. It must have been really loud for them to have heard me through the glass.

I hadn't been listening to the intercom, where the operating doctors were explaining what they were doing and why, until Dr. Benge said, "Dr. Cullen, please tell your brother to sit down and shut up, or get out of the room."

Emmett nodded and pried me away from the window, forcing me into one of the seats. I sat stone still for another hour as they worked to repair her broken body.

One of the other residents asked how I knew Bella. "She's my girlfriend," I answered softly. I think even she was surprised I answered her.

"Really, does her fiancé know about you?" she quipped with a smirk, and I wanted to punch her in the face. I should've known better than to speak to Lauren.

"Fiancé?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah, the big dark-skinned dude who rode in with her," she said in a duh voice. "He's in the waiting room, waiting for news on her."

My chest tightened. I'd lost her. I'd completely lost her. She was probably pregnant with Jake's baby.

As the doctors finished and were readying to move her to recovery, I was bawling my eyes out. Emmett practically carried me out of the observation room and into a vacant on-call room, where I could fall apart and still keep some of my dignity.

"I'm going to see if I can get some of her test results from Angie. Just sit tight," my brother said and slipped out, leaving me alone in my misery.

Emmett finally came back, looking warier than when he'd left. It must not have been good. Something was wrong. Was my girl dying? Did they miss something and have to take her back into the O-R? "What is it?" I finally blurted out, startling him.

He had highlighted a few things on the page. Her fiancé had informed the doctors that she was on birth control. Tests confirmed she was still taking it, and it was still in her system.

My eyes fell to the bottom of the page at the final highlighted section.

"The dates line up with Tequila weekend. I should've made sure you were stocked before you cocked, when you joined the Mile High Club. I'm sorry, Bro, it's yours. That's going to be a hell of a story to tell the kid someday."

It was my baby.

It was _my_ baby.

She was pregnant with my baby. I double checked the conception date through teary eyes, knowing it wouldn't change anything. It just proved once again that it was my baby she was carrying. I handed the paper back to Emmett and dropped my head into my hands.

"Are you alright, dude?"

I couldn't stop myself from crying, and I shook my head no.

"So, you think she's marrying the library dude, because she's scared?"

I snatched the paper back from his hand. Did Bella even know she was pregnant? I went over the prescription she was on. It was that seasonal one. She wasn't due for a period for another two days. I handed the paper back to him. "She doesn't know, Emmett. That's why she's still taking her pills."

"She's going to freak," Emmett said, and I wanted him to leave. I climbed into the on-call bed and pulled the blanket over my head. "I'm going to tell them you had a family emergency and can't work right now," he said, as he slipped out the door.

I realized he wasn't lying. My child was not out of the woods yet. Bella was stable and out of surgery now, but she had been through a major trauma. Miscarriage was still a very real risk. I waited for Emmett's return. I didn't know how long he was gone, but he finally came back with word that Bella was awake, and she wasn't taking the news of her pregnancy well.

I pulled myself together enough to make it down the hall and stand by her room. I could hear talking going on inside. Apparently, all of Jake's buddies were there.

"Man, she got messed up pretty bad. Do you think she's going to be alright for the football tournament in November?" someone asked.

"No…yes…no…" Jake stumbled with his answer.

"What the fuck, man?"

"Jake," I heard my sweet angel groan.

"She's awake!"

I heard a round of several guys saying, "_Take it easy," "Don't move," _and, "_Someone get her some water_."

It settled down, and I heard her apologize to Jake. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

"Yeah, well, just remember what happens when you don't listen. You almost died. That's not cool, Bella."

"Hey, no kissing, that's gross," someone said, and my heart clenched. Jake was kissing her. I couldn't stop the tears that pushed forward.

"It's just her forehead. Get over it, Quil. You're just jealous, because she won't let you kiss her anywhere."

I heard Bella weakly laugh a little, and then I heard a round of whistles.

"Ha! She let me kiss her cheek!" the guy, who I assumed was Quil, announced proudly.

There was laughing all around, and Jake said, "You know you shouldn't encourage him."

"So, girl, you have to hurry up and get better for football season. I love to see the Magic Swan fly over those jackasses' heads. It never gets old, looking at the face of the jerk who gets owned by the Swan on the field."

There was a round of whooping, hand slapping and laughter, but Jake stopped it. He cleared his throat and told the guys to shut up and sit down.

"What's going on, man?" one of them asked.

"She can't play this season, doctor's orders. She has to take it easy."

"Jake, he can't be right." Bella must've been in denial.

He cleared his throat again. It was obvious he was nervous. "She's going to be fine. It's just that…" he paused.

"What, man?" one of the guys asked annoyed.

"She's pregnant," Jake announced.

"What?" several of them shouted.

I was surprised by what happened next.

There were several threats of, "_I'm going to fucking kill you for touching her!_" and, "_How dare you touch her!" _There were also several shouts of_, "How could you mess with our baby sister like that, man?"_

There was an obvious scuffle going on behind the door, and I decided to see for myself if they were really going to kill Jake for touching Bella. _Maybe something good could come out of this after all_.

I had slipped in unnoticed, because everyone was focused on the mess of bodies on the floor. Two guys had jumped on Jake, and three others were standing back letting it happen. I noticed Bella had a look of horror on her face.

"Fuck, man, it wasn't me! I didn't even notice she had tits until yesterday, when _you guys_ pointed it out!"

"Bella has tits?" someone asked.

I looked over at my girl, who had blushed a deep red and pulled the blanket up to her nose. I was so distracted by her adorable blush, that I didn't realize the guys had noticed me.

"He was probably the jackass who got her pregnant!" Jake yelled.

The mass of brown-skinned, angry monsters had started to come at me, when Bella's voice croaked over their threats. "STOP IT!" Everyone's eyes snapped to her. "You will stop this right now!" she glared at everyone. They all sat down, still glaring at me. "Jake, there has to be some kind of mistake. I'm on birth control. I'm not pregnant," she said weakly.

Jake looked sad, and I knew why. Because he didn't want to be the one to tell her of the mess we had made.

"Bella," I spoke softly, not wanting to upset her, but she glared at me, "Let me explain," I begged.

"Explain what? There's nothing to explain, Edward. Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be busy making a future with someone worthy_?_" she snapped and then winced.

"That's not…" I tried, but she looked away from me.

I wondered if we had been together, whether I would've recognized the signs that she was pregnant. If she had been with me, I would've never let her jump off a damn cliff!

I glared at Jake, but he just glared back, not intimidated.

It was all such a huge mess, but I needed to convince her she was pregnant with my baby. "Bella, your birth control was not effective yet."

"Don't be ridiculous! I'd been on it for over a month before we had sex. It was effective."

"Remember how I was worried something had happened on the plane? The date matches up with Tequila weekend."

She started crying, and I wanted to go to her, but when I moved closer to her, she snapped at me. "Just stay the hell away from me! I don't need you!" she sobbed harder.

"Bella, please…" I begged.

"NO! I'm not getting an abortion, and I don't want you around, whining that I messed up your perfect life, so just leave me alone!" she shouted at me.

The guys moved between us, pushing me towards the door.

"I think you should go," Jake snarled at me.

I didn't want to. I didn't want to leave her. "Please," I begged him.

His brow furrowed in confusion. He pushed me into the hallway, shutting the others behind the door.

"What the hell are you trying to pull, man? Don't you think you've done enough to her?" he snapped at me, when we were alone.

"Jake," I said with pleading exhaustion in my voice, "Please, you have to help me."

"Why the hell would I help you, when you were just using her?"

"I wasn't, I swear, things just got so messed up, and I said something stupid."

"You were using her. She came to me a mess, because you used her, and then you made it clear you didn't want a future with her."

"That's not true! I do want a future with her. Just wait here, I'll prove it." I ran out of the hospital and jumped into my car, flying to my apartment. I quickly snatched the two ring boxes out of my underwear drawer and about killed myself speeding my way back. I ran back to her room and saw Jake walking down the hall with a fresh coffee in his hand. I held up the ring boxes. "I have a ring, rings," I corrected. "I want to marry her. I didn't mean what I said. I was scared, flustered and stupid, and I misspoke. She took off, and Alice told me not to go after her. I say stupid stuff a lot. I just didn't get a chance to fix it this time. I should've gone after her. Please, Jake, I love her."

He took the worn engagement ring box from my hand. "It's an heirloom," I explained. "I'd get her another ring if she didn't like it, but I thought it having a story would…"

"Yeah, she'll like it."

I looked up at him, hopeful. "Will you help me?"

"Let me talk to her first and feel her out."

I threw my arms around him, hugging him. "Thank you so much," I sobbed.

"You're not off the hook yet. Charlie's going to kill you, ring or not," he said, before he disappeared into the room, and I knew he was right.

I needed to invest in a Kevlar suit, quickly.


	26. Chapter 26

**This chapter is being reposted because I uploaded the wrong version. You'll want to re-read it, because there was more at the bottom you don't want to miss!**

**Dollybigmomma beta'd my bad. Updates will be slow until the holidays are over, but I'll do what I can.**

**Chapter 26 – He's the Real Deal**

**BELLA**

I was sure Jake was being a sick jerk. I didn't know how he convinced a doctor to tell me I was pregnant, but I was sure he had. That was, until Edward came in. I was surprised he could stand upright. I was sure he had the results at his fingertips, judging by his scrubs. The man who didn't want a family with me, was going to have a baby. I didn't want him involved. I didn't want him to start a relationship with my child and then disappear like my mother did. That was what happened when parents didn't want kids, they left, and I really didn't want my baby to go through what I had.

Jake had chased him out and took his time coming back. I worried he might be beating Edward up. I might have been upset about having his baby, but I didn't want him hurt. I didn't want…it was sad but true, I still loved him, and it hurt to have him so close to me. If he would have just once sought me out, if he would have asked for me, or sent a bouquet of flowers, or hell, even a greeting card explaining he didn't mean what he had said, I would've been on his doorstep in seconds. Alice said he knew where I was. She had told him where I was, and I made sure she knew to give him my address the first night after I'd left.

She'd sworn he had it but didn't seem to care about me enough to fix things. I wanted her to be wrong. I wanted to say she didn't know Edward like I did, that he was prone to saying stupid stuff, but he didn't come after me. He should have chased me out into the parking lot. He should have come to my refuge where I was hurting. I thought for sure he'd come, but the longer I waited, the more I realized that maybe I didn't know him. I had been with him for a few months, before it came out that he was from a rich family, and not a little rich or lotta rich, but holy crap insanely rich. If I was so stupid to have missed that, what else had I missed?

Jake finally came back and shooed the guys out of my room, telling them to go home. I was tired, and I knew I needed my rest. My eyes drifted closed, and I fell asleep. When I came to, the nurse was checking my vitals. "Hi, Ms. Swan, how are you feeling?"

"Tired."

"Are you in any pain at all?"

I took a deep breath and felt the pull on my sore body. "Only when I move."

"I'll talk to Dr. Benge and see if we can up your dose a little then, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." My eyes ran across the room to see who was there. My dad was fast asleep in the corner, and Jake was standing across the room. He was most likely waiting for the nurse to finish up. Once she was gone, he came over and took my hand.

"Hey, you up to talking?"

I gave him a weak smile.

"Okay, good. So how do you feel about getting married?"

I was sure my sour face clearly indicated that I really didn't want to marry him, especially for something as stupid as being pregnant.

"That bad," he frowned.

"Jake, I don't love you like…"

"Oh, no, not me," he let out a breathy laugh. "I'll definitely be there for you and baby Swan, but even if you have tits, it'd still be weird."

I pulled the blanket tighter against me.

"What if I told you that there was a mess made, and that there was a misunderstanding about a misunderstanding, and not that anyone was really wrong, but protective and might've possibly…"

"Jake, I'm pretty intuitive, but even I have no clue what you're saying."

"Alright, by how upset you were and what you believed, and by what Paul might've done in the past…"

"Paul?"

"Or Quil, possibly Sam-"

"Jake, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Okay, maybe me, too, but it's not uncommon."

"For heaven sakes, just say it."

"So guys, as a whole, have a one-track mind."

"I think it's a little late for the sex talk."

"No, just be quiet for a minute. Okay, my point is, guys can be dogs. We do stupid things, because we like to have sex. We just do, and sometimes people get hurt, and we don't even know we're doing it, and then we realize that we don't feel for them what they feel for us, and we break it off rather abruptly and…"

"What are you trying to say?"

"Guys use girls all the time."

I looked away upset, because I didn't want to be reminded of what had happened to me. I didn't know if this was some weird twisted pep talk, but I hoped he'd get to the point quickly and shut up.

"So when you told me what he said, when you told me what you thought…"

I glared at him. I absolutely didn't want to talk about Edward.

"Bella, I may have done something under the impression that I was protecting you."

My breath caught.

"When Edward came to me for help, I told him you were living with me. I gave him the impression that you were _with_ me."

My chest tightened.

"I thought I was saving you from more heartache. I didn't want him yanking you around."

"Why…"

"The thing is…I think I messed things up for you."

I could barely see him through my tears.

"When we were in the hall, he was begging for my help, and when I told him I wouldn't let him use you, he said he could prove he wouldn't. He had a ring, Bella. He said he wanted to marry you and had a ring, and it wasn't something he could've just quickly picked up at the jewelry store to marry you because you were pregnant. He said it was an heirloom. He had to have been hanging onto it. I don't think he could've gotten it within the fifteen minutes he was gone."

"He…"

"He _has_ been known to say stupid things in the past," Jake suggested.

"Can you…?" I didn't even have to finish my request.

"On it." He opened the door, and a pacing Edward looked so anxious, ready to jump on him.

When Jake opened the door wider, he rushed to me, "Please, Bella, hear me out. I was stupid and scared, but I didn't mean what I said. I planned to have a family with you. I just wasn't ready at that moment. My dad had freaked me out about how he'd almost lost mom when they had Emmett while he was in his residency, and I couldn't risk losing you. I swear I didn't mean it the way it came out. Please believe me. I do want to marry you and not just because you're pregnant, but because I love you. I know if I ask you to marry me now, you'll probably think it's because you're pregnant, but it's not. I've wanted to marry you for a long time."

I put my hand over his mouth to stop his fast, flustered rambling I loved so much and pulled him to my lips. He hugged me so tight it hurt, but I didn't tell him to let go, because it just proved he really wanted me.

He sobbed into my neck, while I cried into his. Everything had been so messed up. He pulled away and took an old ring box out of his pocket. "Please, marry me," he begged opening the box.

I nodded yes, and he kissed my face all over, before settling on my lips, and then he finally slid the ring onto my finger. It was a little loose, but not bad. "Jake said it had a story, can you tell me about it?"

"It was my grandma or great-grandma Platte's, actually. It's set in silver, because she married a guy who owned a silver mine. It was unheard of at the time, but after her husband died, she took over running the mine, until her son could take over. From the stories my mom had told me about her while I was growing up, she sounded really cool. She could shoot a gun better than most men and was looked down on, not only because she was a woman, but because she treated her workers, who were considered just a step up from slaves, very well. It's fitting, right, because you see people for more than what others do?"

I really loved my ring all the more. I pulled him down for another kiss, "That's amazing. I love my ring so much."

He let out a sigh of relief and kissed my hand and then kissed my lips again. I'd never get tired of that.

"I'm sorry I didn't come out after you, but Alice said it was best not to. I wish I hadn't listened to her. I tried calling and texting…"

"I lost my phone. I told Alice to let you know that. I made her promise to give you Jake's house phone number and address."

"She didn't, I called your house a few times, but no one answered. Then Jake said that you were…"

"I know, he was an idiot, I'm so sorry." I kissed him again. His words started to sink in. "Alice didn't give you my phone number or address?"

He shook his head no.

I couldn't understand why she wouldn't. She had sworn that she had. "I should've called you," I whispered, disappointed in myself. "I'd thought about it plenty of times. Jake was staying at my apartment in town, and I was staying at his place in La Push. I had nothing better to do than lay around and mope. Then he went and made you believe…were you there when Alice called and asked if I was still at Jake's?"

"Yeah, she was calling for me. When I told her what Jake said, she said she wasn't surprised that you'd moved on with him."

I was getting pissed fast, "She what?"

"She said that she knew there was something more going on between you and…"

"That bitch!" I was ready to go after her. Unfortunately, my body wasn't. I shifted too fast and groaned out in pain, falling back.

"Take it easy, sweetheart. We can deal with that mess once you're better. Just rest and relax." His hand moved to gently cup my lower abdomen that was so close to my incision site. "The baby isn't out of the woods yet. Your body has suffered a terrible trauma. You need to take it easy, so it'll know that you can handle both healing and growing a baby, okay?"

My heart broke, thinking about how I had put our baby in danger. "I didn't know, Edward. I really didn't."

"I know you didn't. Don't cry, alright, sweetheart. Everything is going to be okay. You're expected to make a full recovery. You just need rest and to eat healthy."

"Are you upset about me being pregnant?"

His grin spread wide across his face. "No, absolutely not, I'm thrilled we're having a baby. Honestly, Bella, there's nothing more I want out of life than a family with you. And here you are, giving me a family. It's amazing and wonderful. I love you, so much." He kissed me softly.

I started crying again. "I love you, too."

The nurse came in with a smile that fell to a confused face. She looked at me and then Edward and then over at Jake, who just grinned and said, "He's her real fiancé. I'm just the cool best friend."

Chief Swan cleared his throat loudly from the doorway, "Fiancé? I don't think so."

"Daddy?"

"Bella, honey, you're heavily medicated. In fact, he was trying to get you even more heavily medicated, so no. I will not let you accept his proposal while you're in the hospital. I'll fight it and say you aren't in your right mind."

"Daddy!"

"You're wearing the ring. Consider us engaged," Edward whispered to me. "Alright, Chief Swan, I'll ask again when she's not so heavily medicated, but I _will_ ask again, and again, until she sees that I love her more than anything, and she's the one I want."

"Yeah, well, if she says no, then I'll get a restraining order, buddy. She knows how to use a gun and carries pepper spray, so don't piss her off." My father was embarrassing me.

Jake patted Edward's shoulder and leaned in to whisper, "Charlie doesn't know about the baby yet. You should probably take off, before it comes out. He'll kill you and make it look like an accident. He can do that, you know, he's a cop. _'Accidents happen_.' And I'm not talking about the kind that got his baby girl pregnant."

Edward's eyes popped wide, and I gave him a discreet nod, agreeing with Jake.

"I'm going to go find Emmett and Rosalie," he said kissing my cheek. "She was in town to visit Emmett and would like to see how you're doing. Do you mind her coming in for a visit?"

"That would be nice," I said through a yawn.

He kissed my forehead and then my lips. My father cleared his throat loudly, stepping forward.

"I love you, Edward."

"I love you, too. Get some rest now. I'll bring Rose by after a while."

He loved me. I really hoped it wasn't all a dream. Thankfully, I had his ring on my finger, so I could reassure myself later that it was real. I was engaged to Edward Cullen. My insides did an excited flip. I was going to marry that boy.

**A/N: Updates will be slowing down, but I'll try and get stuff to you when I can. Happy Holidays!**


	27. Chapter 27

Beta'd by Dollybigmomma. Still slow updating. Hope you are all having a good time.

**Chapter 27 - Insanity at its peak is reality as we know it.**

I was pacing, waiting for Jake to tell me that Bella would hear me out. It had taken a very long time for him to get back to me. I kept telling myself he'd be able to convince her, and I hoped he didn't forget me out in the hall.

While I was waiting for Jake to explain to Bella that I really did love her and wanted a life with her, Emmett came by and told me that Dr. Benge had called my mother. Apparently, he was a friend of my father and was disturbed by my behavior. When she called in to see what was going on, Emmett let her know what had happened. He also said Rose had made it out for his day off tomorrow, and he was going to meet her in the gift shop.

They had the right idea. I needed to get Bella a gift as well, but I couldn't leave my post at her door, until Jake let me know if Bella was willing to let me explain what had happened.

I nearly attacked him when he came out of the door, but he had done it. I didn't even have to fully explain things. She still loved me, and I was overjoyed when she happily agreed to be my wife. I was over the moon. She was my fiancée. I didn't want to leave her side, but I'd noticed Charlie still had his gun on his hip. I still would've stayed if Bella asked me to, but she urged me to go. He wasn't happy about the engagement, and I was sure he'd be ready to kill me once he found out we were having a baby.

On my walk down to the store, I puzzled the idea of Alice trying to stop our relationship. It made no sense. Why would she try and break us up? She'd have nothing to gain. I had thought she was a true friend to Bella, but it was obvious that she hadn't been one. I was tempted to bring up the subject with Jasper and see if he knew what was going on. I really hoped he had nothing to do with her interference. He'd been a close friend for a very long time. I couldn't see him being involved in something like that. He'd just said that if it was meant to be, that it'd work out.

When I made it to the hallway with the gift shop, I heard Emmett's voice, "Why don't you? It's a perfectly reasonable request." When he saw me enter the store, he came over to me frowning. "They don't have any 'It's a Baby!' balloons, and they're acting like it's a completely absurd request."

"Because it is," the gift shop attendant cut in.

"Why do you want 'It's a Baby!" balloons?" I asked, unsurprised by his odd request.

"Well, since she's pregnant, I thought I'd show our family's support for her to keep the baby by getting an 'It's a Baby!' balloon, but they only have 'It's a Boy!' or 'It's a Girl!' The stupid chick behind the counter thought it was dumb and threatened to call security on me for impersonating a doctor," he pouted.

Rosalie snuggled up next to him. "It's okay, baby. You can make a balloon yourself and then maybe see about patenting them, because lots of people would be happy to get an 'It's a Baby!' balloon when they find out they're pregnant."

He leaned down and kissed her softly. She handed him a marker and told him to pick out the color of balloons he wanted to get Bella.

I looked over at the flowers in the case they had there. None of them seemed fitting. "Do you have any more flowers?" I asked as the clerk looked on in horror as Emmett wrote 'It's a Baby!' all over the six balloons she had blown up.

"No, not here, there's a shop across the way that we get these from. They might have something else," she offered.

Rose picked up a mug that was full of little daisies. It said…

_**Getting well is for Rookies. I'm getting Awesome!**_

"It just seems to fit her. Don't you think?" Rose asked me holding it up.

I smiled, "It does. She'll love it."

"How did things go with her?" she asked gently.

"Great, actually, I asked her to marry me, and she said yes."

"Really?" Rose squealed.

"Yeah, ring free, see?" I held up the empty engagement ring box, smiling widely.

"They're engaged, Emmett!" Rose shouted for all the world to hear.

My brother pulled me into a crushing hug. "That's so awesome, man. I'm happy for you." He nooggied my head and I rolled my eyes at him.

Rose was dying to see the ring herself, so I sent them off and told them to let her know that I would be there shortly. I took off on my errand, grinning like a fool in love.

Which was fitting, because that was exactly what I was…

I hurried outside and found the little flower shop. I hoped they had what I was looking for. I opened the door, and there was a teenage boy reading a comic book, stuffing his face with a burger.

Great.

"Excuse me." The kid didn't even look up. I really could use the help of a real florist. I cleared my throat loudly.

The kid looked at me and rolled his eyes. "Ma!" he shouted, "Ma! There's a fuck-up out here who needs your help."

"Jason!" I heard a woman's voice scold.

"What? The douche should learn his girlfriend's favorite flower. That's like a duh thing to know, along with her favorite color and food."

"Jason, go sit in the back," she dismissed him. "Sorry for my son, he usually doesn't help out in the store, but I decided he needed to be a little more supervised, so he's here," she explained.

I hated to admit it, but even with as much of a brat as that kid was, he was right. I should have known this stuff. I was really failing in the boyfriend department.

"What can I do for you, Sir? Or doctor, by the look of it," she said smiling.

I looked down and realized I was still dressed for work. "Um, yeah, I need something for my fiancée. She's a little wild and sweet."

"Let me see what I have in the back," she said smiling and hurried off. I hoped the bratty kid wouldn't return.

She brought out a bunch of colorful flowers. "Do you like these?" she asked.

"Yeah, those look perfect."

She told me to pick a vase, and I grabbed a huge porcelain one with a swirl design.

"Well, we'll need more than just these to fill that. Are you opposed to filler flowers?"

"Uh, what are those?"

"How about you just trust me, and I'll make it look nice," she said patting my hand.

"Okay, that sounds good." I felt like an idiot. I decided I'd make it a point to learn more about flowers…at least the flowers my girl liked.

When she came out, I couldn't see her behind the vase. The arrangement she had made was huge, but perfect. She had twisty things that stuck out, along with lots of different colored little flowers that matched the wild-looking flowers I had picked out. I passed her my credit card, not even caring what she charged me. They were perfect.

I made my way back to the hospital through a light mist that seemed to freshen up the flowers more. I was outside Bella's door, when I heard Jake telling Charlie to hand him over his gun. Charlie was refusing, and I could hear Bella crying. I quickly burst into the room, knowing it might be my last time, but I needed to get Bella to settle down and stop crying. Charlie didn't see that it was me right away, since the flowers were hiding me. Once I set them down, though, his focus was on me, and he was pissed.

"You bastard! You knock up my little girl, and then take off, hurting her worse, then think you can swoop in here when she's vulnerable. She doesn't need you! You get the hell out of here and never return!"

I glanced at the monitors and saw the baby's heartbeat had dropped. "Shhh, Bella, baby, it's okay, I'm here, I'm not leaving," I cooed trying to settle her down.

"You get the hell out of here!" Charlie roared, but I stayed focused on my girl and the baby's heartbeat.

"Rose, go get Dr. Benge, now!" I ordered. "Emmett, help me move her to her left side and do pressure points on her!"

His eyes snapped from Charlie to me, and then to the monitors. "Oh, shit."

"Jake, get Charlie out of here, now!" I ordered, "And don't bring him back until he's settled down. If he's caused her to lose my baby, I'm coming after him with a vengeance," I growled looking straight at Charlie. His face softened, as he suddenly realized something was wrong.

Dr. Benge came flying in and quickly wheeled the ultrasound machine over, finding the baby quickly. He turned on the contrast, and it was evident there was a large blood clot causing problems. I put my head down on her shoulder and started crying.

"I'm sorry, Edward," Dr. Benge said.

"What? What is it? What's wrong?" Bella panicked.

"There's a large blood clot, Ms. Swan. It's impairing blood flow to the placenta. Because you've just had extensive surgery, blood thinners are too life threatening. The risk is very high that you could bleed out and die yourself. I'm sorry."

"Do it," Bella said sternly.

"What?" I asked shocked.

"I want the thinners," she demanded.

"Baby, please. I can't lose you. If you want a baby, we'll have one as soon as you're healed, just please, don't make me lose you, too."

"I have to try, Edward. If I don't do everything in my power to try and save this baby, I won't be able to face myself. Please, Dr. Benge, I want the blood thinners."

"I assume you'll be here monitoring her the whole time?" he asked Emmett and me.

We nodded yes.

He looked gravely at Bella, "Ms. Swan, there's no guarantee that this will work. In fact, you're more likely to end up back in the O-R. I'd need administrative approval to even try. If it does get approved, I'd need to make sure they have a type match of blood in the bank, before you do this. I want you to discuss this with Dr. Cullen while I'm gone. I'm going to be talking with my colleagues to see if they think this will work. I strongly suggest you listen to Edward when he says you can try for another baby. Give your body time to heal. Once you're fully recovered, your body will be ready to try again."

Bella shook her head no.

"Talk to her," Dr. Benge commanded. "In the meantime, massage over her uterus. Hopefully, that'll help with the little blood flow the baby is currently receiving."

I nodded my head, and immediately began gently rubbing her tummy.

"Bella, baby, please," I begged.

She was watching the heart monitor. The baby's heart rate was just starting to push back above one-hundred. It was still much too low for a baby.

"We can try again, I swear. Please, Bella. I need you," I begged.

Her sad eyes met mine. "It's in trouble, because I went cliff diving. I won't be able to live with myself if our baby dies, because I didn't try, Edward. I'll have killed my own baby, and I can't live with that. I'm a lot of things, but not a killer. I can't not do it."

Emmett was standing there with a serious look on his face, and then he looked to me. "I have an idea. I don't know if it'll work, but I'm going to run it past Dr. Benge first to see what he thinks. I don't know if it'll hurt the baby, though. It may not work," he said as he disappeared out the door.

I would take any miracle he could bring us at this point.

A/N Hang with me, I'll update soon.


	28. Chapter 28

**Beta'd by Dollybigmomma, because she's awesome.**

**Chapter 28 - Nothing is impossible. Some things are just **_**improbable.**_

**EDWARD**

Emmett's idea to break up the large blood clot forming near Bella's uterus was good. But still, the risk of losing the baby would be high. Doctors had been using sound waves to break up gallstones and kidney stones for quite a while, and Emmett wanted to see if it would work on the blood clot. The problem was, it was close to the baby, and there was a risk of hurting it. Chances were high that Bella was going to lose this baby, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Dr. Benge agreed to do it, and he did several ultrasounds to try and determine the best angle to come at the clot. He was trying to find a way to point the sounds away from the baby. Another problem was that Bella wasn't that far along, and it being her first baby, her uterus was tight. There was no spare room for error.

It was late in the evening when he finally felt confident enough to try. The procedure didn't take long. Unfortunately, Bella started cramping immediately after. Then she started bleeding. She was losing the baby. I held her in my arms as she cried, promising her that we would try again, that we would try for another baby as soon as she was healed.

Bella's emotional state was tentative, and she refused to allow any further tests, treatments or procedures on her body, even though the doctors insisted she should allow them to do another ultrasound and complete the miscarriage to prevent infection. She adamantly refused, tying their hands against any further action. Thankfully, the bleeding stopped. Dr. Benge assured us that since no fever had set in, and Bella was no longer in any discomfort, no further procedures had to be performed at that moment, but still, my girl was devastated.

I brought in prenatal vitamins to prove my commitment to trying for another baby soon. "You need to take these to help your body get ready. We'll have our baby, love. I promise, as soon as you're healed, we'll try."

She was discharged a few days later, and at my request, my mom and I took her home to the estate. I wanted my mother to keep an eye on her. Bella was not doing well. I knew it'd take time to recover, not just physically, but mentally. I hoped that once she was ready to try for a baby, things would get better.

Bella was a shell of herself, not talking, barely eating. When she wasn't gagging, she stayed in bed, sleeping constantly, and I wasn't sure if it was her pain medication or the depression that caused her to be so tired and nauseous. She refused to go back to the hospital to be re-examined, crying hysterically every time anyone tried to get her to go. I wanted more than anything to fix this. I needed to make her happy again.

My father had the audacity to tell me that her losing the baby was the best thing that could have happened for my career. I punched him in the face, and we hadn't spoken since. He now stayed in the east wing, avoiding us. My mother cared for Bella while I was at the hospital working, along with two nurses she'd hired.

I spent every free moment with Bella, but it didn't feel like enough. I didn't want to be away from her, but it couldn't be helped. I wanted to quit my residency, but she and my mom protested. It was the only time Bella spoke.

I tried everything I could think of. I had catalogs brought in with baby things, telling her I wanted to ready a nursery, because we would try again soon. She just burst into tears. I knew she blamed herself for losing the baby, when that was the furthest thing from the truth.

If anything, it was my fault. I had been an idiot and let her leave. I was sure I would have seen the signs of pregnancy. I would have noticed it sooner. I would have been with her, so she wouldn't have tried to forget me by doing dangerous things. All of this pain and loss could have been avoided if not for my stupidity.

I snuggled up to her sleeping form and whispered how sorry I was that I had failed her and our baby.

It had been six weeks since her accident. Bella was still a walking zombie, and I insisted that she stay with my mom. I didn't want to leave her alone. Thank god my mother understood and agreed with me. She truly loved Bella almost as much as I did.

We were in Dr. Benge's office today, waiting for her checkup that my mother had finally convinced Bella she needed. He had told me over the phone that a D&C should be done to make sure the miscarriage had been complete, and so that Bella's uterus could finish healing properly. We didn't want any possible debris to interfere with the conception of another baby. His statement was depressing and exciting at the same time. I hoped conceiving another baby would help Bella feel better.

I held her hand, as Dr. Benge went to perform an examination. He stopped and frowned. "Let me just see what's going on here," he said wheeling over the ultrasound machine.

"What is it?" I asked panicked.

"The cervix is closed," he stated simply. That could mean she was festering an infection or any number of things, all of which were bad, and some that could lead to infertility.

My mind was racing, hurt and panicked, but all of that stopped once he put the wand on her stomach. A soft whooshing sound filled the room. My eyes widened in shock and excitement, as we took in the wriggling little form on the screen.

"It's alive! She didn't lose it! You're still pregnant, baby!" I said hugging Bella to me. Tears were streaming down both of our faces.

Dr. Benge was smiling as he proceeded to check the baby out, careful to be sure to examine every part of the baby closely. "It looks healthy; the blood flow is good, the heart rate is steady. The bleeding and cramping must have been from the blood clot dispersing. We'll want to monitor you closely, just to make sure no underlying complications arise, but as of right now, things are looking good."

We were on cloud nine when we left the doctor's office. I insisted that we stop by a baby store and buy something, anything, in celebration. Bella was more nervous, afraid to get her hopes up that everything would be okay. She finally let me buy a teddy bear for the baby.

When we arrived home, I shouted for my mother, which sent poor Edgar into a frenzy, running to find her, so peace would return to the house.

My mother came hurrying into Bella's room, where I had shouted for her the whole way, as I put Bella back to bed. My mother stumbled into the room panting, trying to catch her breath. "Good heavens, Edward, what is it?"

I held out the teddy bear, proudly beaming. She looked at me confused and then looked at Bella, who was softly rubbing her tummy.

"I don't understand," she said.

"She didn't lose it, Mom. I don't know why we didn't realize it before. It was a blood clot. Of course it would cause bleeding," I laughed at my stupidity. "By refusing further treatment, Bella saved our baby's life," I said out loud as realization hit me. "She's fine, and our baby is fine. Bella is sixteen weeks and three days pregnant with a healthy baby girl."

My mother squealed excitedly, jumping around, "That's so wonderful, kids! I'm so excited! We'll have to have a feast to celebrate. Oh, Bella, this is so wonderful!" my mother hugged her tightly. "Dresses! So many little dresses to buy!" she squealed running out of the room.

I was laughing loudly, as I climbed into bed next to my love and kissed her softly. "Are you going to be okay with my mother spoiling our little girl?"

She smiled. "I think it would be nice to see how a real mom does it."

I kissed her again and pulled her into my arms, "Rest, little mother. You need to take it easy, you're growing our baby." I was beyond giddy. I knew I would not be sleeping, but I would hold her close, because there was nothing else I would rather have been doing than that.

Holding my two girls, my miracles.


	29. Chapter 29

**Sorry this is so late. I'm just lame. I'll get back to being regular on my updates again.**

**Dollybigmomma is my awesome beta and saved my crazy, even when I didn't and freaked out. Yeah, long story short, I lost half this chapter, but thankfully found it.**

**Chapter 29 - Do stairs go up or down?**

**EDWARD**

My mother was thrilled we were having a baby girl. My father, on the other hand, was not happy that Bella was still pregnant, and he and my grandfather were upset that the baby was a girl. Boys could pass down a family name, so according to grandpa, girls were useless. He had five daughters; none of them were on speaking terms with my father. Being the only boy in the family, he'd inherit everything. Grandpa expected his daughters to find husbands to support them.

I suspected my grandmother wasn't supportive of his belief, because she steered clear of our family. She hated my mother. Grandpa had disowned his only son for a short time, because he had married my mother; that was until Emmett and I were born. Then my mother was suddenly worthy to be in the family again, since she was having boys. I knew there was a stipulation that for Emmett and me to inherit anything, we had to be married and have a son first. Bella not being my wife and also being pregnant with a baby girl had us on the disowning list.

My father had the nerve to insist that she get an abortion, stating, "Things would be different if it was a boy, but it's not, so it'd be best to not fuss over it and just get rid of the problem now." Needless to say, I punched him again and told him not to go anywhere near my family. I knew my mother had overheard the conversation, and they must've had a pretty intense fight afterwards, because my father left the estate and was staying in the downtown penthouse by work.

Once my dad was out of the house, things seemed to settle down. My mother continued entertaining people liked she always did and invited Bella several times to join her and her friends for tea, but Bella was never very chatty or social.

I was just on my way out to go to work, when I ran into Jacob in the driveway. "Let me show you in. Bella told me you have an aversion to butlers."

"Dude, they're always the ones who did it. Why can't you rich people figure that out?"

I chuckled at his serious tone over something so ridiculous.

"Edward," Carmen Denali called to me from the tea room we were passing.

"Mrs. Denali, how are you?" I offered doing my best to ignore the daughter she had with her. It was Tanya, and she could be very aggressive if given any encouragement at all.

"I'm doing well, thank you."

I tried to politely continue past the door, hoping to steer clear of Tanya, but she hopped out of her seat and came down the hall after Jake and me.

"Who's your friend, Edward?" Tanya asked with way too much interest.

Jake looked to be checking her out, too. "This is my friend, Jacob. He's in town for a short visit. He's royalty, and you know how they can't keep way from their rule too long."

Jake's head snapped to mine, trying to figure out what I was playing at, but he technically was royalty, since he was the next in line to be chief of his tribe.

He was about to correct me, but Tanya literally attacked him. She had him pinned against the wall and was rubbing up against him shamelessly. "That must be so stressful," she purred, running her hands up his chest to his shoulders and finally up to the back of his neck, where she rubbed it and pulled his face down to her chest at the same time. His hands fell to her hips, trying to steady himself. "Why don't you let me help you relieve some of that tension?"

Jake peeked at me with a cheeky grin.

"I'll just leave Tanya to show you around. I need to get to the hospital." Tanya would be pissed when she found out the truth, but it served her right for being such a shameless slut.

As soon as I arrived at the hospital, I knew something was up. Jasper was standing outside waiting for me, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to talk to him. I was afraid I'd find out that he was involved in the interference Alice had caused. I really didn't want him to be. I pushed past him, ignoring him when he called to me. I hurried down the hallway and shut the locker room door in his face.

Emmett came in to change as well, except he was getting ready to go home. They found it easier to keep the two Dr. Cullen's on different shifts to avoid confusion.

"Edward, what's up with Jasper? He's outside the door and practically jumped on me when I came in."

"I don't know. I'm still not talking to him."

"I get that. Are you ever going to talk to him? It's not like it's his fault his girlfriend is a heinous bitch."

"That's the thing, Emmett, I'm afraid to find out that he was involved."

"Jasper? Nah, he wouldn't get mixed up in that stuff. You should talk to him and get this thing settled, the sooner the better."

I still wasn't ready to face Jasper, but I didn't think I ever would be. I finally opened the door and secured my tag on my coat.

"Edward, can we talk, maybe get some coffee when you go on break?"

Emmett was down the hall and nodded at me to accept the offer. "Sure, I'll let you know. I just got on, though, so it'll probably be a while."

"Yeah, no problem, I'll just go hang out in the cafeteria."

I spent the next couple of hours deciding if I should brush him off or actually meet with him. I knew he and Alice were engaged. I wondered if he knew the extent of the trouble she had caused. Emmett had told him that she had "pulled some shit," and that was why we weren't associating with them anymore. I finally bucked up and went to meet him. He must have planned on waiting, because he was stretched out on a bench, reading his Kindle.

Once he noticed me, he jumped up, excited. "Edward, please, come sit, or we can go outside or…" It was raining, like it did frequently here.

"Here is fine."

He ran his hands through his hair roughly. "I understand why you're upset. I get that, and I think Alice handled things horribly. She had some information, and she didn't act on it properly."

"I don't think there would've been any proper way to act, considering what she was trying to do."

"She thought you guys could break up gently, just naturally, and your problems wouldn't bleed over into our family."

"Our problems?" I was getting pissed. "Our problem was her interference and misleading us to keep us apart."

"This is more complicated than you think. Rose told Alice that Bella's still pregnant and that it's a girl, which is great, but Alice freaked out."

"Her opinion means absolutely nothing to us," I snapped. I made to get up, but his next words held me in place.

"It's your grandmother."

I sat back and waited for him to elaborate.

"She's friends with my mom. They had tea together before you two broke up." My jaw clenched. He put his hands up, trying to calm me. "When Alice told me the extent of what your grandmother said…" he shook his head, "I think your girl may be in trouble."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your grandmother knew that Alice and Bella were friends. Alice was introduced as my fiancée. She didn't know about your family being crazy and commented on you settling down with Bella. She thought it was weird when your grandmother glared at her, and the two women, I guess your aunts, sneered at her. When my mom went to the bathroom, Alice was left alone with them, and they threatened her. They told her to keep Bella away from you, or they'd both be sorry. Your grandma is freaking psycho, dude."

I shook my head at him. I wasn't sure if I believed that. I knew my grandmother was distant. I could count on one hand how many times I'd seen her. I didn't think she was as crazy as Jasper was trying to make her out to be, though.

"I can tell you don't believe me, but she told Alice to keep Bella away from you, or she'd make her disappear. Then she said something about how she'd made people disappear before. Alice thought she was bluffing, but when my mom came back into the room, your grandma asked her if she'd heard anything on Carrie Wadsworth lately. Edward, you remember Carrie, right? Do you know where the hell she is? Because anyone will tell you that she dropped off the face of the planet. She's been missing for three months."

I remembered Carrie. My mom had tried to set Emmett up on a date with her once. The girl had apparently had a crush on him. She was a nice girl, but not particularly attractive, and definitely not Emmett's type. She was, however, persistent.

"I doubt my grandmother had anything to do with that."

"It gets worse, Edward, much, much worse. A day after Alice found out she was pregnant; my mom announced it at their tea. Jesus, Edward, I've never seen Alice so scared in all my life. Your grandmother told her she'd better keep you two apart, or something bad might happen to her and the baby.

"Then when my mom got back from the bathroom, your grandma asked her if she remembered that horrible accident your mom had gotten into when she was pregnant. She was run down by a car that almost killed her. It was only her proximity to the hospital that saved her and the baby. Then she said, 'It'd be a shame if something like that happened to Alice.'

"You and Bella were already on a break. Alice was sure if she could just keep you two apart that you'd get over each other. I know she should've told you what was going on, but she was scared for our baby."

I sat quietly, letting the information sink in. I really doubted the elaborate story Jasper told, and I wondered if he'd had a hand in coming up with it.

"I can tell you still don't believe me. Just talk to your mom. Ask her if she was ever hit by a car when she was pregnant. When Alice found out that Bella was pregnant, she went ballistic and told me everything. That's why I've been trying to get a hold of you. She tried to talk to Bella herself, but she's not taking Alice's calls. I wasn't surprised, but what happened needed to be heard. She's scared for her, Edward, and I am, too."

I got up and started to walk away, when he called to me again. "Look into my story, Edward. Don't dismiss it, it's not safe."

I wanted to brush off his story as bullcrap, but there was a niggling in the back of my mind that told me I had to look into it, or I'd be very sorry.

I was distracted the rest of the day, but instead of staying at mine and Emmett's apartment like I did during the week, I drove home to the estate. I had to talk to my mom.

"Edward, is everything alright? Bella's already in bed. She's had a long day, but I'm sure she'd be happy to see you."

"Mom, have you ever been hit by a car?"

She looked at me stunned, "Did one of your patients…?"

"No, I was just…" It was ridiculous. She didn't answer yes and thought I was talking about something else completely. When I started to walk away, she grabbed my arm. "Why did you ask, Edward? Is everything alright?"

"Mon, were you ever hit by a car?" My stomach dropped, when her eyes teared up, and she nodded yes.

"I was pregnant at the time. We'd just found out Emmett was a boy. I'd had lunch with your father at the hospital. I hadn't seen him much, and it was hard on me. I'd just reached the edge of the parking lot and was about to cross the street, when a car came out of nowhere." Her hand skimmed over her shoulder and down to the opposite side. "Your father saw it all. He and two other doctors were taking a break and were able to stabilize me. I almost lost the baby. It was touch and go for a while on the both of us. Your dad almost dropped out of his residency."

"There were three witnesses, did they catch the driver?"

She shook her head no. "I have to know why you're asking. Did someone threaten you? Did they say they were going to hurt Bella?"

I didn't answer right away. I was worried that Alice might have found out that tidbit of history on my mom and was twisting it to her advantage. I really didn't know Alice all that well.

"Who told you, Edward? Tell me now."

"Alice, or rather Jasper, she told Jasper, and he told me."

"What exactly did she say, what was the context? I need to know now, Edward." My mom was starting to freak out.

"Alice is just looking for excuses…"

"Who told her?" she snapped.

"Grandma."

My mother looked like she'd had the wind knocked out of her. "Did she…did she say anything else?"

"Are you okay, Mom?"

"Please, Edward, did she say anything else?"

I was really starting to worry that Alice's story was true. "Alice was supposedly threatened by grandmother. She didn't want Bella and me together. She brought up the disappearance of Carrie Wadsworth."

My mother fell back into a chair. "Edward, Bella shouldn't leave the estate."

"You don't think..."

"We can't be too careful."

"She threatened Alice. She's pregnant, too, and was told about you getting hit by a car and that it'd be a shame if it happened to her."

"What does your grandmother want?"

"Alice was supposed to get us to break up. I'm sure they know it didn't work by now. Jasper is really worried about her."

"He should be. If he can take her out of state, or even better, the country, that'd be best."

"You can't be serious."

"They could never prove anything, but I've always had a gut feeling. Jasper should heed the warning, Edward. Let him know that your grandmother doesn't mess around."

"You really think she'd hurt them?"

"We'll keep a close eye on Bella. She's supposed to be taking it easy, anyway. I don't know for sure if Bella is in any danger. Since you're not married and your baby is a girl, there's no threat to the Cullen family, at least so far. It's best if you focus on the good things in life."

"Is there any chance that this stuff is not true?"

"How well do you know Alice?"

I shrugged, "Not really well at all. Could she have looked this stuff up online?"

"It's very possible. If she did make up that story, it's a very cruel one. Either way, I suggest you stay away from them. You don't want to be around those kinds of people, especially if they associate with your grandmother. No one worth their salt interacts with her. If they do, I really doubt they can be trusted."

That actually made me feel a lot better. I felt bad for poor Jasper being duped. I knew I wouldn't be able to maintain my friendship with him anymore, as long as he was with Alice.

I decided to let the whole mess go and climbed into bed with my girl. I snuggled up to her, and she rolled over in my arms, holding onto me tightly. "You're back. Are you off tomorrow?"

"No, I had to see you, so I came home. I'll be back again on Friday, though. Will you still love me when I'm gone?"

She giggled and kissed my lips softly. "I love you non-stop, any and every time of day, me and your baby girl live to spend a few moments with you. I can't wait until your residency is over, and we can settle in somewhere permanent and have a family."

I nibbled her neck, humming, "A family sounds wonderful. I still can't believe you're really pregnant." My hand settled on her tummy, making me smile when our little girl shifted. "We're so lucky, you're so wonderful."

"You're not so bad yourself," she said and then yawned.

"It's bedtime for my girls." I didn't have to tell her twice. She snuggled right down into my side and was out like a light. With her pregnant and in my arms, life was perfect.


	30. Chapter 30

Beta'd by Dollybigmomma, she's the sweaty sunset to my flaming nipple.

**Chapter 30 -** **Why be difficult when, with just a little bit of effort, you can be impossible?**

**EDWARD**

I was high. I was on a natural high, I should say. I couldn't stop smiling, and I would practically dance between patients. My girl was going to marry me, and we were having a baby. The baby was fine. Everything was going great.

Bella was still staying with my mother, only because I insisted that she not be alone. My mother also kept her very busy planning the wedding and shopping for the baby. We spent every free moment we could together. My residency was very time-consuming, and it would be for the next four years. I understood now my father's forewarning of this being difficult on us. I missed Bella, and she missed me terribly. I would call her every free second I had, just to see how she was and listen to what my mother had planned for them that day.

Bella was twenty-eight weeks now, and she just looked amazingly beautiful. I loved her more than ever. She positively glowed, and I loved how close her and my mother had become.

Best of all, her voice was a frequent blessing in my day.

An ambulance came flying in with a police escort. There was only one patient; and I was downright giddy when I was passed over, and his case was given to someone else. It left me free for a few moments to call my girl.

"You look awfully happy to be overlooked and dismissed."

My eyes shot up, and I saw Chief Swan. Bella had not spoken to him since that day in the hospital.

"I have time to call Bella now," I said turning away from him.

"How is she?" his voice begged. There was so much pain in it; it made me stop. "Jake said…" he gasped and struggled to speak, "Jake said she lost the baby."

I turned around, shocked. He hadn't heard the latest news that our daughter was fine. I considered not telling him, but he looked to be in such pain.

"No, we thought she did, but my daughter is fine. Bella is doing well. She's staying with my mother. They're planning our wedding and getting ready for our daughter to be born."

Charlie let out a cry of such relief I could not hold a grudge against him.

"Thank God! Oh, thank God. I don't think I could've lived with myself if I'd caused the death of my grandchild."

"It was hard on us all, thinking we'd lost the baby," I said taking a step towards him.

He looked up at me and smiled sadly. "Is she happy?"

"I hope so. She sounds happy when I call," I held up my phone.

"That's why you smiled that way, because you'd get a moment to talk to my daughter," he stated plainly.

"The only thing better than talking to your daughter is being with her," I smiled.

"You should go call her. I'm sure she'll be happy to hear from you," he said dismissing me.

I nodded and hurried out the front door and quickly hit the speed dial for my Bella. She picked up on the first ring.

"Edward, tell your mother we don't need ice sculptures," she snapped.

"Ice sculptures of what?" I asked confused.

"Swans. Apparently, we need swans at our engagement party, and since I vetoed the live swans, she wants ice ones." She sounded frustrated.

"Give the phone to my mother," I said firmly, waiting.

"Edward, be reasonable," my mother whined.

"Mother, please don't upset her. She's still supposed to be taking it easy. Can't you ask her if there's another ice sculpture she'd like, or maybe just set the book out and let her finger through it. She may pick one out on her own."

"You think?" my mother asked hopefully.

"Yes, just give her time, and let her make this her own."

My mother let out a sigh. "Alright, dear. Here, take the book, before I get distracted with it again," she said as she passed the phone, and I assumed the ice sculpture book, to my Bella.

"Thank you," Bella said with a sigh.

"So, my love, other than swan madness, what's been going on?"

"Just last minute planning the engagement party. Do we really need an engagement party? Can't I just send out a note saying 'Hey, engaged here, back off my man?'"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. I loved that I was her man.

"Only if I can send out notes saying this chick is mine."

"Well, I think that's pretty obvious with the little reminder you left growing in me."

"How's my baby girl doing today?"

"Good, wiggly, but good," she said, and I heard her turn the pages of the ice sculpture book. "Oh, that's pretty."

"What is, my love?"

"Um, nothing," she said unconvincingly.

"Well, if you're looking in a mirror, I'll have to disagree. You're not just pretty, you're beautiful and magnificent and so many other words that just fall short of how truly amazing you are."

I heard her sniffle. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too. I wish I could be there with you, I'd have fun looking at the ice sculptures."

"You like ice sculptures?"

"Yes, but I learned at a young age not to lick them."

She started laughing, and that right there made my day.

"So, do you want one?" she asked.

"Well, maybe if you see something you like, but do me a favor and don't tell my mother I like ice sculptures, or she'll find every excuse in the book to have one in the house. Can you imagine all the floral arrangements replaced with ice sculptures? It may be nice in the summer, but with the cooler weather, the heating bill would be outrageous, or the sculpture bill."

"Both. She'd have to replace them all the time," she giggled.

"Yes, you're right. I love you," I said just because it was hard not to say what I felt.

"I love you, too. When are you coming home?" she asked. I loved that she was calling the estate home. It truly was her home.

"In two days. I'll have a two-day break. I plan on driving straight from the hospital."

"No, I don't want you to fall asleep behind the wheel."

"What is this?" I heard my mother say.

"Edward is going to drive straight here after his shift. I worry he won't be rested."

"Don't worry, dear. We'll just send him a car. He can sleep on the way here and be rested and ready when he gets here," my mother answered her calmly.

"Did you hear that, baby?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Are you okay with that? Having someone come get you so you can sleep?"

"As long as they get you to come wake me, I'll be thrilled."

"I promise," she said.

My pager went off. "I'm sorry, my love. I have to go. Two days. I promise I'll be there," I said hurrying back inside.

"I love you!" I heard her say before we hung up, and I hurried off to the next case I would be working.

It was a horrifically long two days. The last eighteen hours I spent working on a woman who had been badly hurt in a car accident. Her husband was obviously drunk when he smashed into another car head on. He, of course, survived, beat up fairly badly, but nothing that would not heal with time.

But the woman, she was pregnant. We had to take the baby early in hopes of stopping complications. Even still, after eighteen hours of working on her, she passed away. I looked at the baby in the nursery, hooked up to all the machines making it live without its mother. I saw it was a girl. The little pink card bore the name Bree Tanner. She was a fighter and deserved better than the drunk who had killed her mother.

"Edward?" I heard my name. I looked up and was surprised to see Chief Swan. "You were on the Tanner case?"

I nodded my head yes.

"They're just now taking Mr. Tanner into booking."

My head shot up, "But what about the baby?"

"She'll go into the system once she's healthy enough to do so. I'm sure she'll be adopted by a nice family."

I knew Chief Swan meant his words to be comforting, but they weren't. My pager went off.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," I said and quickly hurried down the hall to the nearest phone. The number was the front desk.

"Dr. Cullen, there's a car here to take you home?" the woman said a little too snottily for my taste.

"I'll be right there," I said hanging up and hurried downstairs. I needed to see Bella. After losing Bree's mother, I just really needed to hold my Bella and feel our baby kick.

When I stepped out of the elevator, I saw the most beautiful thing.

My Bella.

I ran to her, wrapping my arms around her and burying my face in her hair. I couldn't stop the sobs that left my throat, as I squeezed her tightly. The baby kicked in response, and I laughed, overjoyed to feel my family in my arms.

She looked at me concerned, when I finally loosened my grip on her. "Tough day?" she asked.

I chuckled a little. "Yeah, you could say that."

"I'm sorry, baby," she said kissing me softly.

"I'm so glad you're here. I really needed to see you." I got myself a little more under control. I was leading her back into the hospital. I wanted to get one last look at Bree before I left.

Bella looked confused when I hit the floor for the nursery. "She's a very little patient. I lost her mother today. I just want to check in on her one last time before I go."

She leaned in and kissed me, "Of course."

When the elevator doors opened, Bella gasped. I looked to see what the problem was, but then I realized Charlie was standing there, head down and crying against the glass.

"Is she okay? Is Bree okay?" I asked quickly moving forward, worried that in the few moments I was gone, something had happened.

Charlie startled and nodded his head yes. Bree was okay. Then his eyes landed on Bella and her swollen tummy. He gave her a sad smile.

"You look beautiful, Bells," he said so softly, I wondered if she heard it.

I hurried into the nursery to check on Bree for my own peace of mind, and when I looked up, I saw Bella hugging her father.

Little Bree was fine. I let out a sigh of relief that she was okay and that my love was at peace with her father again. I knew it had been bugging her, even if she wouldn't admit it. I knew she would work through it in time.

I came out, and Bella smiled at me. "She's so tiny."

"She's only thirty-five weeks. If she was any younger, I don't know if they could've saved her. She still isn't out of the woods yet." I rubbed my girl's belly for comfort as I spoke. "I'm glad you're here."

"Well, it just didn't make sense for me to sit around waiting for you to come home, when I could come here and snuggle with you on the way there."

"You're perfect, you know that? You always know just what I need," I said as I kissed her lips softly and then nuzzled her neck, breathing her in, finding my center.

I needed Bella as much as I needed air.

The ride back to the estate took longer than I would have liked. I could tell Bella was tired. Once we arrived, Riley woke me up, but I stopped him from waking Bella. I carried her in my arms up to our room and gently tucked her in. I turned to go take a shower and felt a little tug on the edge of my coat.

I looked down to see Bella pouting.

I leaned down and kissed her softly. "Let me just wash the hospital off me, and then I'll come snuggle up with you. Why don't you pick out a movie we can watch?"

She let out a little huff and sat up, letting me go take my shower.

I was not in the shower very long, when I felt a cool draft and then a warm hand. I opened my eyes to find Bella's hand reaching around me. Her breasts pressed against my back along with her little tummy. I felt a little thump, and it made me smile. I turned around and pulled her to me, enjoying the feel of her skin. We had not consummated our relationship since we had gotten back together. I was too nervous about causing problems with the baby. I didn't want to do anything that would upset her cervix. Still, she smelled so good and tasted so sweet, it was hard to resist nibbling her neck just for a moment.

She squeezed my butt, causing me to bounce forward and bump her little tummy. It made me laugh and want to kiss it better, so I knelt down to kiss her belly. "I'm sorry, little one. It seems Mommy is in a feisty mood tonight."

Bella scowled at me, which just caused me to smile, because she was just adorable when she scowled. I knew one of these days, that would get me in trouble, but right now I couldn't find it in me to care.

Her hand reached under my chin and asked me to rise by lifting gently. She pulled me to her lips and started kissing me deeply with vigor. She was hungry, and not for food. She placed one of my hands over her breast, and I couldn't help but caress it. It was soft and beautiful. It would be a crime not to worship it.

I wanted her, I did, but I didn't want to hurt her. Her hand wrapped around me, causing us both to moan, and I tried to back away. Her grip tightened, and she worked me harder. Fuck, I wanted to be inside her. I finally pulled away from her lips and rested my head on her shoulder. I watched her work me at the same time as I gently touched her breasts and massaged her ass. All of her was so beautiful.

It didn't take long for me to lose it, spurting all over the shower, panting hard. I moved the showerhead to rinse it off and then kissed her forcefully, thanking her and letting her know I did appreciate and want her. I would hold her tonight and let her know that I truly did worship her.

I stepped out of the shower and grabbed my robe and then quickly grabbed hers, wrapping her up in it. I picked her up, causing her to squeal, and carried her to our bed.

"Thank you," I whispered as I kissed down her neck. I thanked her, because finding my release at her hand was amazing compared to the roughness of my own. I wanted to repay her, but safely.

I had her lay on her side and tucked the pillow under her leg and side so I could rub her back. On the nights I couldn't come home, I would attend a Lamaze class that taught me how to give a massage to a pregnant woman so she would relax. Thankfully, Angela Webber was the teacher and let me work with her as her "assistant," but we both knew better. I had come to really appreciate Angela's friendship and had even met her fiancé, Ben. He seemed like a nice guy. Very quiet, a lot like Angela.

I massaged my Bella's back until she fell asleep. I was glad to do it for her. I could feel how tight her body was under my hands. It never ceased to amaze me that she was carrying my child. I had studied the process in school, but to see it done, to watch the skin stretch and grow and feel the baby kick was just amazing. The way her body worked to compensate for our daughter was a miracle in itself. Any doctor would tell you it was called the miracle of life for a reason, and I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize it.

The stress of the day had caught up to me, and I fell asleep quickly, snuggling Bella in my arms.

The dream I had was amazing. It wasn't unusual for me to dream about making love to Bella. I was always much more adept at it in my dreams. Her body was warm and tight. This dream was so much more vivid than my others were. I could feel the pressure of her weight on my hips as she ground down on me. I could feel her hands on my chest as she rode me. I could feel her breath fanning across my body as she worked towards our release. I felt her body clench and heard her cry my name, and I felt my body respond in kind, as I panted out hers. My eyes popped open to find my little angel smirking from her perch.

I sat up quickly, wrapping my arms around her and rushing her to the shower. I did my best to quickly clean her up. I knew semen could cause ripening of the cervix, and I didn't want her to go into preterm labor. "Bella, honey, are you okay? Do you feel okay?" She rolled her eyes at me. "Please, you know this is not good. There's a reason I wasn't having sex with you, and believe me, it's not because I don't want to. I truly do, honey, but I want to keep the baby safe."

"She is."

I shook my head no. "Semen can ripen your cervix, and orgasms can cause contractions. It is, in a sense, a contraction. Are you okay? Do you feel alright?"

"Edward, baby, shut up. You're killing my buzz. I'm fine. Besides, I've been cleared for sex for the past month, you know this."

"Yes, but I'd feel better if we waited until the baby was further along, in case something happened, so we'd at least have a chance to save her," I begged for her to understand my panic. "I've already lost her once in my heart; I don't want to lose her again for real."

She pulled me into her arms and kissed me softly. We wiped away each other's tears, remembering the time when we thought we had lost our little girl. I didn't know if I could handle going through that again.

"How long?" she whispered.

"Just until she's at least thirty-five weeks, please?" I begged.

"Then you'll have sex with me?"

"Yes, I promise, and once you cross thirty-eight weeks, I'll be with you as much as possible to help naturally ripen your cervix," I said smiling. I leaned in, kissing her neck softly, enjoying the taste of her skin.

"Hmmm, that sounds nice. You may have to take some time off to do that."

I laughed, "Already taken care of. At this rate, Emmett is going to graduate before me."

She pouted. "I'm sorry."

"No, my love, believe me, what I'm gaining in exchange is worth it. Besides, the hospital can use the money my parents are throwing at them to make the allowances. They're getting a new MRI machine put in for the six weeks I took off after the accident, and there's a new maternity and nursery wing being built in honor of our little one's arrival." I kissed her belly. "They're giving me three months off for that. As for our honeymoon, I haven't heard what the plans are for that money yet. But I have a month off to be with you, my love, and I'm going to savor every moment of it." I kissed her lips, smiling. "Now, would you please be a good girl until then?"

She looked like she was thinking about something. "Can I suck you off? That wouldn't ripen anything, right?"

I was hard instantly at the thought. She really knew how to get my attention. I cleared my throat roughly. "I, um, no, I mean yes. I mean no, that wouldn't hurt you."

She smiled widely as she walked out of the shower. That girl would be the death of me.

The next day, my mother kept us busy with the last minute preparations for our engagement party. The party was this coming weekend.

Bella seemed to be getting more and more anxious about the whole thing. She hated to be the center of attention. She didn't mind hanging out with friends like the pack, because she'd grown up with them, and she knew they loved her, but she was afraid that my family's acquaintances would not accept her. What she didn't realize was that we didn't care if they did or didn't. She was still my girl and still part of my family.

I could tell my mother had that momma bear instinct when it came to Bella. Bella had made it clear that our butler made her nervous, and my mother just about took his head off the other day for interrupting them for a delivery. Edgar was apparently supposed to send a maid in instead, and he'd forgotten.

I stepped out with Edgar, patting him on the back, apologizing. I told him my girl was sure the butler did it, and in true English fashion he asked, "Did what, Sir?" I burst out laughing.

I explained it to him, and he got a good laugh as well. I told him his job was safe, and once we were married, we would be moving to a butler-free home, but I would still get the pleasure of seeing my wife's startled expression every time he opened the door when we would visit.

He finally put two and two together, realizing why she jumped and screamed at him that first time. "Truly, Sir, she thinks I 'did it'?" he chuckled.

It was freaking hilarious. I didn't tell him, but Bella went so far as to get his information from my mother and faxed it to her dad to do a background check. I hoped that once his record came back clean, she would relax a little around him.


	31. Chapter 31

**Dollybigmomma rocked this beta style. **

**Chapter 31 – I'm glad you're ugly. It saves me from having to lie when I say you make me look good…**

The night of the party, I waited, dressed and ready, at the bottom of the stairs for my girl. Charlie came, and I was truly glad things were good between us now. I knew having him here would mean the world to my Bella.

He stood with me, waiting for my girl, and looked around. He let out a low whistle and shook his head, chuckling. I knew he was thinking the estate was a bit much. Bella thought the same thing. Poor thing had gotten lost a few times the first week here, but luckily was found by the maids. Needless to say, our home in Port Angeles would not be as large.

I heard my mother laughing and turned to see her welcoming Jake and the pack. They were all dressed up in black suits. Jake was groomed sharply and dressed impeccably, playing the part of royalty, and the guys were playing as his secret service. My mother hugged him tightly, and I heard her encouraging him to catch that silly Tanya Denali. I couldn't believe that was still going on. He promised me he hadn't lied to her once about what he was; he just didn't give any specifics, either. She was going to be meeting him here tonight, and apparently, she sounded rather excited for him to meet her parents. That would be interesting.

"Can we secure the premises?" one of the guys asked.

"Fine, but don't touch anything, or I'll take you out," Jake threatened. "I'm sure their backyard is big enough to lose a body in."

My mother giggled and called Edgar over to show the boys around. My mother and I laughed when Jake mouthed the word "butler" to the guys, and then he pointed to his eyes and then to Edgar, as if to say keep an eye on him.

Jake joined Charlie and me at the bottom of the stairs. Charlie looked him up and down and smirked.

"What? I'm nailing me a princess," Jake said with a grin, and I shook my head at him as Charlie chuckled.

I was dumbstruck and in awe when my Bella descended the stairs. Her shimmering blue gown was exquisitely elegant and hugged her body, bringing out the blue in her perfectly styled hair. Thin wisps of material cascaded gracefully from her, floating as she moved. She looked ethereal, like an angel or fairy, as she descended upon us. Her makeup was smoky around her eyes, making it impossible to look away, and her skin gently sparkled under the lights. She looked amazing.

Charlie bumped me and whispered at me to breathe, as Jake closed my mouth. They were both laughing at my reaction, but God, she was beautiful. I finally got my brain to function and was able to move forward and take her in my arms. I kissed her softly, almost forgetting where we were, until Charlie cleared his throat, reminding me we were not alone.

My mother quickly ushered us to the ballroom and lined us up for reception. My father was on his best behavior tonight, lucky for him. The last bruise I had given him had not completely faded yet. I had to say, I was completely pleased with Mrs. Carmen Denali's response to my girl. Her jaw dropped in shock, and before she could say anything, I said, "Isn't she the most magnificent creature you've ever seen?"

She gave us a tight smile and nodded her head yes, biting her tongue. Good thing, because my mother was standing right next to Bella, ready to take out anyone who said anything even remotely rude.

I had filled Bella in on the Jake/Tanya thing, and she held back her giggle when Jake came through the line with Tanya on his arm. I could see the flare of jealously in Tanya's eyes, when Jake leaned in and kissed Bella's cheek.

Once the reception portion of the evening was done, my father and Charlie stood up and made a small toast to our engagement. Bella danced with her father, and I danced with my mother for a time, until we could change partners. I was surprised how smoothly she glided across the floor, and she seemed to read the question in my eyes.

"Football," she said with a smirk.

We were joined by several other couples, and I was surprised when Jake could actually dance very well. I later found out he had taken ballroom dancing with his sister for a year, which I could use as blackmail if I ever needed to. Apparently, none of his other buddies knew, only Bella, because she had helped him practice a couple of times.

I had never taken ballroom lessons. My father had saved Emmett and me from that, but we were still taught the basics by my mother. As I watched Jake and Tanya dancing, I had to laugh, because Jake's smoothness as he moved on the floor made Tanya look like a klutz. When he came and asked Bella to dance, I was curious to see if she would show Tanya up on the floor.

Yeah, watching Jake dancing with Bella made me want to take ballroom dancing classes before our wedding. They glided so smoothly, and he even did a small lift with her, making it look like she was floating. God, she was an angel.

I was so taken with her I didn't realize the rest of the room was as well, until my mother pointed it out. I was so proud of my girl. Jake even did a proper bow at the end when he returned her to my side, thanking me. I thought it was hilarious that the Denali girls practically squealed when he approached them.

"I hope they don't hurt him," Bella whispered in my ear. I could see sincere worry in her eyes.

"He knows what he's doing, love," I said kissing her tenderly.

We sat at a head table, and people frequently came by to say hello. I noticed Bella was not talking again, and I hoped she was okay. She would give everyone a friendly nod and smile, leaving me to do the introductions.

Emmett and Rosalie finally joined us toward the end of the evening. Emmett seemed to be extra giddy tonight for some reason. His usual grin was doubled and practically touching his ears. Rose seemed happier than usual as well. Rose noticed Bella was being quiet and nodded her head toward the bathroom. The girls got up, and both took a bathroom break.

Emmett leaned over and said, "Is it just me, or do we have the hottest chicks in the room tonight?"

I nodded, agreeing that we did. Well, I was sure I had the hottest chick in the room tonight, but I suppose that was how I was supposed to feel. Several more people stopped by and talked with me, complimenting me on my fiancée's grace. I wished she was here to hear it.

I noticed Jasper was in attendance. He glanced toward the bathroom where Rose and Bella had disappeared to and made his way over to me. "Edward, Emmett," he nodded in greeting.

"How are you doing, man? I haven't seen you around in a while. How's law school treating you?" Emmett chatted, quickly dismissing the discomfort.

"Things are going well. I've accepted an internship in Texas."

"Wow, that's far away," Emmett commented.

"Yes, well, I thought it'd be best if we had a little change of scenery." His eyes drifted to my grandma and then landed on my mother, who smiled and raised her glass to him.

"So, you're leaving?" I asked, wondering if he was going to reveal the real reason for our discomfort.

"Yes, I think it's in the best interest of my family."

Emmett laughed, "Both of the families are established in this state. Is there trouble in paradise? The in-laws think you're an outlaw?"

"No, something has just come up. Hopefully, things will settle down in time." He looked at me intensely. "Edward, I wish you well. Just…keep an eye on Bella, and take care of her. I know things are bad between us right now, but we do love you guys."

"Dude, how much have you had to drink? You're already declaring your love for your buddies."

Jasper gave Emmett a wide grin and hugged him tight. "You stay out of trouble. I have to go find my wife."

I watched him stride across the room to where his family was sitting. His mother, Charlotte, was talking with Alice. When Jasper approached, Alice stood up and took his hand. They quickly headed straight for the exit without looking back. I noticed my grandmother watching them intently as they left.

When the girls came out, Rose whispered something to Emmett, who in turn leaned over and asked if I would mind if he and Rose stole the spotlight. Apparently, Bella was done being under scrutiny for the night. I saw her nod her head yes and give me a pleading look.

"Sure, Emmett, knock yourself out. Just don't break anything," I teased, patting his shoulder.

I saw him pull my mother aside, and they talked for a while. My mother looked upset for a minute, but her face softened, and then she hugged Rose, kissing her cheek. I wondered what the hell was up. My mother pulled my father over and seemed to be talking excitedly.

My father frowned, but nodded. I saw that he was conceding to my mother's excitement about something. Moments later, my mother was standing excitedly next to Rose, as my father took the stage and called us all to attention.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I have a wonderful announcement to make. My eldest son, Emmett, has just married his lovely fiancée, Rosalie Hale. A toast to the new happy couple, that they'll have a long happy marriage and that my wife won't blow my entire fortune on the reception I'm sure she's already planning."

I was surprised and had no clue this was even in the works, but I was certain Emmett and I would be discussing his reason for not including me in his wedding later. He had some explaining to do.

The rest of the evening went fairly well. The girl's plan worked, as most of the attention was now drawn to Rose. Of course, we could not escape all of the Denali's.

Irina came up and whispered a little too loudly that my bride to be was a bit chubby. I had proudly informed her that she was pregnant with my daughter, when she said, "Oh, so she trapped you into marrying her?" My poor sweet Bella hid her face behind me.

I put Irina in her place. "No, she was a virgin the first time I proposed to her. If anything, I trapped her into marrying me. I had to convince her somehow, now didn't I? Too bad your future husband will not have the pleasure of taking your virginity, now will he? That is, if you ever find one."

She was fuming when she stormed off, and Emmett actually high-fived me. So I was a little surprised when I turned around and found my Bella in tears. I asked Emmett to let our mother know we were retiring for the night, and then we slipped out, heading to our room.

"They're all going to think that, aren't they?" Bella cried once we were alone in our room.

"No, my mother won't let people think that, I promise. I swear, love, no one will think ill of you. I know it. They can see how much I love you. Your dad is always pointing it out on me now. I feel rather like an imbecilic codfish. You suck the brains right out of my head when you're in the room. All I see is you and how amazing you are. That's what everyone will see. Irina is just an evil jealous girl who's pissed because you've proven I'm not gay."

"What?"

"She was sure I was gay when I turned her and her sisters down. She spread rumors all over our school."

"Stupid bitch, want me to kick her ass?" Bella asked, angry.

"No, you did much better. You took what she wanted, and you're rubbing it in her face that I'm definitely not gay," I said and kissed her tummy. "Now, my beautiful angel, can I take this dress off you and show you just how not gay I am?"

"I thought you wanted to wait?"

I nodded my head, as if trying to decide. "Yes, I did, but maybe if I pull out and you just have a little orgasm, it'll be okay, because you just look too amazing not to eat up."

She blushed a deep red, and I eagerly found her lips, kissing her hungrily, letting her know that no matter what anyone said, she would always be it for me.

I carefully propped her up on pillows. I knew the little sneak had made our earlier session so good I thought I was dreaming, and I planned on doing the same to her. She could use some relaxing endorphins right now, and I planned to give them to her.

"You looked like an angel descending from heaven when you came down the stairs this evening. You're the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. Do you know that?" I looked into her eyes to see if she understood I truly meant it. She blushed and looked away, but I wasn't having that. I grabbed her face and brushed my lips against hers. "I mean it, love; you're the most beautiful person I've ever met, inside and out; so sweet and innocent, with just the right amount of feisty and wicked. You're my perfect catch," I whispered as I kissed down her neck to her breasts. I knew they would be tender, so I only teased them lightly with my tongue. They seemed to taste extra sweet.

"I swear you must bathe in sugar, because I can't get enough of your skin," I said as I took her breast in my mouth. I only suckled lightly, not wanting her hurt her. I watched her face and was pleased with her response. I moved down her belly, leaving a trail of kisses. "Look at this. You're mine, all mine." I nibbled down her hip, kissing above her center. "Do you know how much I love that you're pregnant with my baby?"

I kissed the top of her belly, smiling at her. "I love seeing you like this, swollen with my child; growing the seed that I planted inside of you."

I captured her lips again. "So amazing, so beautiful," I whispered as I kissed back down to her center. I put my hands on either side of her tummy, so I'd know if she started contracting and gently licked. She let out a soft moan. I licked and sucked a little more, but then she pulled me up and grabbed me.

"In," she moaned.

That one word was all it took, and I was sheathed inside of her. I didn't push all the way in, nervous I would hurt the baby, but in enough to give her some pleasure. I knew she wanted harder, but she settled for faster. I used my hand and found her center to help her find her release.

I quickly pulled out and apologized for the mess I made all over the bed. She just smirked at me. "I'm not worried about it. It was your side of the bed."

I couldn't help it, the silly tease, I tickled her until she threatened to pee on me, and I knew to take her threat seriously, because she had a baby dancing on her bladder. She did get up and go to the bathroom once I released her.

She brought a damp rag to clean me up and the bed. "I guess you'll just have to snuggle extra close tonight," she whispered kissing my jaw.

Yes, yes I would.


	32. Chapter 32

**Dollybigmomma Beta'd this mess.**

**Chapter 32**** -** **If everything seems to be going well, you've obviously overlooked something.**

**EDWARD**

I was sure my mother was in heaven, with the way she worked herself into a blissful frenzy planning for my wedding and Emmett's reception.

The reception for Emmett and Rose would be happening much sooner than our wedding. Bella seemed to enjoy Rosalie's company when she would visit. Again, since Rosalie's family was not well off, my mother took it upon herself to pay for the whole reception. Honestly, I think she secretly wished Emmett and I had been girls and was thrilled when Bella and Rose came into our lives. Rosalie's mother, Mrs. Hale, was a helpful planner in the event, but with Bella's mother being M.I.A. still; my mother really took Bella under her wing and coddled her as if she were her own daughter.

I could tell that my beloved enjoyed having a mother in her life now. I had caught them talking quietly over snacks about having a baby. Bella was a little scared, and I didn't blame her. I had seen the process, and it didn't look very comfortable, but I was sure that Bella would have the proper medication to make the delivery as painless as possible.

Little Bree was doing much better and growing quickly. I noticed Emmett spent a lot of his time looking after her. I asked him if he was changing his specialty to pediatrics, and he told me he was thinking about it.

Rosalie was also spending a lot more time with us. I thought it must be hard for them to be married and not be together all the time. Emmett had really been pushing for her to quit her job, but I didn't blame her for not wanting to sit around the apartment all day, waiting for him to come home. I suggested he have Rose volunteer as a cuddler for Bree in her free time.

Emmett's reply shocked me. "She's scared to get too attached. She's worried the adoption won't go through."

"Adoption?" I asked shocked.

He rubbed his face. "We hadn't planned on getting married so soon. She was hesitant," he let out a sigh. "Rosie can't have children. Her last boyfriend beat her until she lost the baby girl she was six months pregnant with. There were serious complications. She almost died."

Emmett looked so broken. "She can't have children, but when I saw little Bree, I thought maybe..." he shrugged. "I told her about the baby, and we flew to Vegas that night, so we could put in to adopt Bree as a married couple. If we get her, Rose will stay home with her, but she's scared to get her hopes up."

I stood in silence, shocked for a moment, letting it all sink in. I let out a deep breath and smiled. "So, you're a daddy," I patted his shoulder. He looked up surprised. "They'd have to be nuts to turn down a Cullen, Emmett. Bree is as good as my niece," I laughed. "This is cause for celebration."

He smiled sadly, "I'd rather not just yet, not until the papers come through."

"When do you expect that to happen?" I asked.

"Next month some time. We bought a house on the edge of town that they're inspecting before we can take her home. They're pushing for final dissolution of the parental rights of her father right now. Since he basically killed his wife, hurt his daughter and injured three other people, he'll be going away for a while. They had no other close family to take her, and once the judge found out that this was not his first drunk driving offense, and he had a long record of domestic abuse, he was confident her father would be given the maximum amount of time. Bree will be an adult before he gets out. When Rosie found out about the domestic abuse, she fell apart. She wants the baby so bad, but this is one system you can't grease with money." He let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.

It was a month later when the adoption went through, and everyone was thrilled for the new addition to the Cullen clan. Well, everyone except my father. He couldn't believe Emmett was approved for the adoption, when he was supposedly "taking time off from school" and doing nothing.

I helped Bella put her shoes on, as she was due anytime now and couldn't see her feet. We were attending Emmett and Rosalie's reception this evening, and of course, my mother was happily showing off little Bree to anyone who came near her.

Little Bree was doing wonderfully in her new home. She had put on a lot of weight, and now at nearly three months old, she was just pushing ten pounds. It amazed me how much she looked like Emmett and Rosalie, though. She had their blue eyes and Emmett's curly brown hair. One would never know she was adopted. She was definitely loved.

I helped Bella waddle down the steps, and she cursed having a room on the second floor. I swear she looked like someone had stuck a ball under her dress. Her tummy was all baby. We paused on the stairs so she could catch her breath. She smiled at Rosalie trailing after my mother, trying to get her baby back.

"That's going to be you soon."

"I wish. She was lucky, cute baby and no pain."

I helped Bella to her seat next to me. She would not be dancing tonight. She shifted uncomfortably several time, before letting out a bored sigh.

"How are you feeling, love?"

She glared at me when I asked her that.

"How would you like a nice massage this evening?"

Her eyes looked grateful and hopeful at the same time.

"Let me see about getting us in a couple of pictures and we'll pinch out early, alright?"

She leaned over and kissed me softly, thanking me.

I was able to get a photographer to come get some pictures, proving we were there, and then carefully helped my girl up from her chair. I came up behind her, hooking my hands under her belly and lifting slightly. She sighed in relief and leaned back against me for a moment, before we started through the crowd.

Unfortunately, Irina Denali stepped in front of us, blocking our way. "Irina, lovely to see you again, now would you please excuse us?" I was trying to be diplomatic.

"Running off already? My god, Edward, what did you feed her? She's so huge. She looks like she's ready to blow," she said faking concern as she looked down at my girl's belly. I felt Bella tense, and she hid her face in my neck.

"I didn't feed her anything. You know just as well as I do that she's carrying my child." I rubbed Bella's belly. "This is my baby girl, who I can't wait to meet. I know I'm going to love her just as much as I love her mommy. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get my girls to bed. Oh, and Irina, that server, Michael, is pretty drunk. He might take you from behind; as long as you promise not make him look at your face." I usually wasn't so vicious, but I'd had it with her upsetting Bella.

She screamed and then lunged at me. I tried to move Bella out of the way, but she fought against me. The next thing I knew, Irina was on the floor, holding her broken nose, blood running down her face.

"You do not hit my man, Bitch!" I held back my girl to keep her from hurting herself.

Rose walked up and looked down at Irina. "That looks pretty bad. Maybe the doctor will give you a discount when you go in to have it redone again."

"Come on, love, let's get you out of here," I said as everyone was staring at us and the whiny Irina, who was still sprawled on the floor.

Bella went to step over Irina and jerked for a moment. "Oh, crap."

There was a sudden gush of fluid that splashed the floor. "Edward, my water just broke."

Irina was screeching at an ungodly level, and then I realized why. My girl's water had broken, all over Irina's shoes.

"Aw, such a waste of Jimmy Choo's," Rose said shaking her head, and we burst out laughing, that was until Bella cried out in pain.

I quickly picked her up and hurried out the front, yelling for Riley to grab a car, any car at this point, because my daughter was coming.


	33. Chapter 33

**My beautiful Beta, Dollybigmomma, blessed this mess.**

**Chapter 33 - ****Of course I'm talking to myself, who else can I trust?**

**EDWARD**

Our daughter, Emma Hope Cullen, finally arrived after twelve hours in the hospital. Bella actually slept through part of her labor with the help of her epidural, but was exhausted after the birth. Although Bella's labor time was relatively short for a first baby, it still took a lot out of her, and she would need a while to recover. She was still feeling some after-effects of her cliff diving accident, and she would need to be extra careful for a few months, until she completely finished healing.

Little Emma was beautiful, with a head of fuzzy peach hair, and she was so tiny. She was seven pound and fifteen ounces, which was a good healthy size for a newborn baby, but when the nurse put her in my arms, she was just so small. She was curled into a ball and wrapped tightly in a blanket. I held her in one hand, and her head rested on my wrist.

Just tiny.

Angela had taught the basics of newborn care to the Lamaze class, but that doll she'd had me hold was nothing like a baby. I hadn't realized it, but I had never held an actual baby before. Bree had been too little, and then Rosalie would never give her up, not that I'd asked.

That doll had been hard plastic and stiff, and I was not afraid to squish it. My daughter on the other hand, she was soft and wiggly. She was squirming in her tightly-wrapped blanket, and I didn't want to drop her, but I was scared to squeeze her too tight. In my panic, I quickly passed her back to the nurse, who looked at me surprised.

"She's wiggling. I don't want to drop her," I said ashamed of myself. I should have known how to hold a baby, especially when it was MY baby.

The nurse took pity on me and made me sit down in a rocking chair. She positioned my arms and carefully placed the baby in them. She had me use my other hand to hold my little angel in place. "Just get used to feeling her in your arms and you'll be fine."

"What if she wiggles?" I asked worried.

She reached down and unwrapped my daughter. Her little body unfolded, stretching out. I kept my hand on her tummy to keep her from falling from my grip. Once she was stretched out, her little hands came down and rested on mine. One grabbed my pinky and just held it. Her little newborn grey-blue eyes looked up at me curiously.

"Hello, little angel," I spoke softly.

She stretched again then yawned. Her mouth made the most adorable _'O'_ I had ever seen. God, I was already wrapped around her tiny finger.

She turned her head and was nuzzling into my shirt, and the nurse giggled. "She's looking for food. It's time to wake Mommy."

The nurse took my angel from my arms and smiled when the little one protested with a squawk. "Well, now," the nurse said smiling, "a daddy's girl already."

Bella sat up and took the baby in her arms carefully. She was a natural. Little Emma nuzzled her breast quickly and latched on straight away. I saw my love cringe, but settle down after a moment. She smiled down at our daughter, gently stroking her cheek, and I'd swear I had never seen her look more beautiful in my entire life.

She was a goddess feeding her angel.

I'd never felt more blessed in my life than at that moment.

.

_**Four months later...**_

I had been back at my residency for about a month now. Little Emma was growing so fast, and I felt like I was missing so much. Bella was doing her best to keep me in the loop by sending me pictures all the time, but I hated not being there with them. I didn't want to work all the time. I wanted to be at home with my girls.

I hated to admit it, but my father was right. It was hell to be away from them, and I felt horrible every time I came home exhausted from my long shift, and my poor Bella looked just as tired, if not more so, since she was trying to recover from the birth and her injuries. We were both wearing out fast.

We had bought a house next door to Emmett and Rosalie's. I had hoped that if they were next to each other, then they could support each other while Emmett and I were on call.

I later found out that Bella did not always enjoy living next to Rosalie, as Rose frequently bragged about how Bree was smarter and developing faster than Emma was. Bella was getting pissed. Bree was older than Emma was, so of course she would be more developed. It didn't mean Emma was slow.

In fact, Emma was very advanced for her age. She had excellent hand-eye coordination and could hold a toy without whacking herself in the face with it. She easily held up her head on her own right away, and she was rolling over front and back at four months! I know, amazing, right? My angel was a _genius._

Emmett and I hoped things would settle down between the girls, but when my mother hired a maid for us, Rosalie decided to throw it in Bella's face that she was a better mother, because she could handle her baby on her own and keep up with everything else. Bella lashed out, yelling that she needed some help, because she had actually given birth to our daughter and was breastfeeding like a real mother should.

She was in tears, when I came home that night. She knew she shouldn't have thrown that in Rosalie's face, but she was just so angry. She was tired of her friend and soon to be sister-in-law constantly picking on her so she would feel better about herself.

I knew it was time to move.

I spoke quietly with my mother that night, and she took no one's side, but completely understood the problem. She knew Rose was insecure, and she knew Bella was struggling. Both of the women were tired, and neither was on their best behavior being exhausted and snappy. My mother agreed that it would be best if we let them have a break from each other.

We decided to move Bella back to the west wing for a little while. That way Bella and Emma would both be taken care of and Bella could get some rest. She cried when I told her where I was taking her. She didn't want to go. She hated that I was so far away. She didn't want to only see me on my off days, but every night when I would come home to sleep. She was upset, because I was taking away what little time we had together.

I was finding myself wavering in my decision to become a doctor.

I decided I would talk to Bella about it after we were married. Our wedding was only one month away. Then I had a month off to spend with her. I hoped solutions would be found in that time.

My love was miserable, and I had to fix it.

Bella had been at my mother's for a couple of weeks, when I got a call from her. She was upset. I looked over at Emmett. We both knew our women were insane, and we didn't know how to fix it. I wasn't surprised when I finished my shift to find Bella sitting in the waiting room with our daughter, a haunted look on her face. I was sad that she was upset, but I was glad that she was there. I did miss her terribly.

I pulled her into my arms, kissing her hello, smiling when little Emma started patting my cheek, trying to get my attention.

"How's my angel?" I asked, taking my baby girl in my arms. I blew raspberries her chubby neck and shoulder, causing her to wiggle and squeal. She was so adorable.

Emmett came up and hugged Bella, ignoring how stiff she was in his presence. "How's the most adorable niece in the world?" he asked kissing little Emma on her head. "Look how big you are," he cooed tickling her legs, causing her to kick and squeal. "That's it, baby girl, you kick those boys away. Just you wait. I'm going to sign you up for kick boxing when your momma ain't looking. Got to keep those boys away somehow, right, Daddy?"

I couldn't help but smile, "That's an excellent idea!" I agreed.

Bella laughed at us and took our daughter back.

"You coming home, Sis?" Emmett asked wrapping his arm around Bella.

She looked up at him sadly and nodded her head yes.

He kissed the top of her head. "We miss you, B. I think it's time you girls fix things. We're all family, and we love you both like crazy, right, Eddie?"

I grimaced at the nick name and punched his shoulder.

"Right, _Edward?"_ he clarified.

"Right," I said and took my daughter back. I missed my baby girl. She was growing too fast for her own good.

"I have an idea. How bout we all go out to dinner, my treat?" Emmett offered.

I agreed, before Bella could say anything.

"How about that little Italian place on Fourth?" Emmett asked.

"Perfect," I answered.

"Great, I'll call Rosie and have her meet us there," he said jogging out the door.

Bella was pouting.

"You know Emmett loves you and Emma, right?"

She knew he did, but she stayed silent.

"Come on; let's go fix this, so you can come home. I miss you." I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her out to my car.

We drove in silence to the restaurant. I knew she wasn't happy about this, but it had gone on long enough. I missed my girl, and we were getting married in a couple of weeks. Rose and Emmett were both in the wedding party. They had to make up now.

Emmett was standing at the door, smiling huge. "They have our table ready in the back. I'm going to wait for Rosie and show her back."

I walked Bella to the table and helped her with her chair. Little Emma was strong enough to sit in a highchair, so I put her next to me and moved the extra highchair next to her so she could play with Bree while we ate.

Emmett was walking up with little Bree. He was talking to her about playing with her cousin. Rosalie stopped in her tracks, when she saw Bella sitting next to me. Emmett ignored her and put Bree in the highchair. "Looky here, Bree, it's your favorite cousin, Emma."

The girls immediately started cooing at each other, and Bree decided to share her pacifier with Emma. It was so cute to watch them squeal and try and talk to each other. The way they responded to each other made me sure that babies had their own language.

I heard a sniffle come from Bella and looked up to see her crying. I looked to Rose to see what had happened, but she was crying, too. Then Rose suddenly ran over to Bella and hugged her tightly. They both cried, and Emmett punched my shoulder and smiled.

I had to say I was a little more than relieved that mess was finally over.

When I finally took my girls home and put little Emma to bed, I hurried to my bedroom, so I could watch Bella undress.

She was beautiful, but she looked much too thin. I easily lifted her into the bed and snuggled into her side, burying my face in her hair.

"I missed you," I whispered. "What made you decide to come home?"

"Edgar," she said his name and shivered, that haunted look from earlier was back in her eyes. I couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Edward, don't laugh, it's not funny. My dad got the results back from the background check. He wasn't able to find an Edgar Hodgkin's anywhere. He came and talked with Carlisle about it and got more information about the butler they'd had before him. He's going to do an international search on both of them to see if he can find something on them."

"I'm sure it's nothing, my love. They're both from England somewhere. I'm sure your dad will find their information over there. I hope it'll put your mind at ease, so poor Edgar doesn't have to walk on eggshells around you."

She pouted at me. "My dad doesn't want us around him until everything has been cleared up, which is fine with me. He seriously gives me the creeps, so bad."

"That's fine. What did my mother have to say about all of this?" I asked, sure that my mother would think it was a ridiculous waste of time.

Bella just shrugged and rolled away from me, not willing to talk about it with me anymore. I could tell she was upset with me for not taking her seriously about this butler thing, but it was hard to. I lay there awake for a while, listening to Bella's breathing even out and thinking about what she had said. Bella was usually good at reading people, but this time she had to be wrong. It would be too cliché for there to be anything sinister afoot. I was certain Edgar was harmless. He had served my parents dutifully for a while now.

I sighed quietly and decided to just go to sleep. I had to work tomorrow, and I couldn't let Bella's irrational paranoia keep me up. As I drifted off, I felt Bella shuddering in her sleep. I pulled the covers up over her shoulders against the chill in the room that seemed to be making her shake.

At least I hoped that was all it was…

**A/N** I wanted to rec a story. I had a lot of fun reading **Meeky311** story **Supernatural Hunters in Training**. (S.H.I.T) It's complete and Dollybigmomma has sent her a beta'd version for her to repost it, so worth the read for the laugh. She is also writing a new story, **Paladin**. I really like the few chapters she has up, so you should follow it, too.


	34. Chapter 34

**Beta'd by the beautiful Dollybigmomma**

**Chapter 34 - ****I'm not afraid of Death, what's it gonna do, kill me?**

**EDWARD**

Today was going to be one of the happiest days of my life, second only to the birth of my daughter. We were getting married today. Bella and Rosalie were excitedly getting dressed in the little bride's room next door. That left us men with the babies. Emmett bounced a fussy Bree, while I rocked a sleepy Emma.

My father walked in, downing a shot of amber liquid. He grimaced when he looked at me. I knew he was disappointed in me. I was considering putting off my graduating in favor of having a family first. It was not what he considered acceptable. He was sure I was putting too much stress on myself and jeopardizing my future and my career. When I looked into my baby girl's face, I couldn't disagree more.

"The ladies are about ready. It's time you took your positions," the preacher announced. I could hear more giggles coming from the bride's room next door. I couldn't help but grin, as Rosalie slipped out and headed around the corner to go wait at the chapel doors for the music to cue her to come up the aisle before Bella. Charlie nodded and winked at me, and then he stepped inside the bride's room, closing the door behind him. My father scowled and slurred curses and something else under his breath. Great. He was drunk. He was supposed to be helping my mother take care of Emma and Bree during the ceremony. Not that he wanted to, since he seemed to resent us having the girls and took little interest in them. It looked like my mother would be handling the girls on her own.

Emmett and I crossed the little hallway and slipped through the door behind the pulpit into the chapel. We walked to the front row where my mother was sitting, placing the girls on her lap. She smiled up at us, as we kissed her cheeks. My dad took his place next to my mother, glaring down the aisle at the closed doors in back where Bella would soon be coming in.

I looked around the room at all the smiling faces. It was nice to see Jasper and Alice in attendance with their son, Nathan. Bella and Alice had sent birth announcements to each other through the mail and had continued corresponding, rebuilding their friendship. I was worried that Bella would be disappointed when she sent them the wedding invitation and they didn't attend. I was shocked that they had actually shown up.

I took my place at the altar and waited for my girl to come down the aisle. Rose made her way to the front, and then the wedding march sounded. When Bella came into view, I think my heart about stopped. She was a vision to behold, and one I would never forget.

Charlie was smiling, but I could see tears in his eyes. Bella was sporting the same teary grin. He helped her up the steps in front of the preacher and handed her over to me, patting my hand. The preacher started the ceremony, and I was so lost in my girl, I almost didn't hear the squealing of our daughter. She was adorable, but being a bit disruptive at the moment.

My eyes found little Emma. She was kicking excitedly on my mother's lap, trying to get our attention. Bella laughed along with everyone else and descended the steps towards our happy baby girl and took her up in her arms. I turned to help her back up, but the room was suddenly rocked by a loud blast from behind the pulpit. My back was burning, as the chapel erupted into chaos. The last thing I heard was Bella screaming, and then everything went dark.

I didn't know how long I was out, but I heard the beeping of a heart monitor signaling I was alive. I heard my family whispering softly through sobs.

The sounds faded again, for how long, I didn't know. I felt a warm tingle on my hand and soft lips on my cheek. "Edward," my sweet goddess spoke to me. "Please, be okay, baby," she begged.

I fought to open my eyes for her. I found it frustrating that I couldn't, I wanted to tell her I would be fine.

I heard our daughter fuss and cry and my mother say she would take her out, so Bella could stay with me. I felt her move my arm and squeeze in next to me on the bed. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and hold her to me, but I still couldn't move.

The silence brought the darkness again. I didn't know how long I was out this time, but when I woke, Bella was next to me again. My body ached, and I groaned.

I felt Bella move, and it hurt, so I groaned again.

She quickly got up and kissed my cheek. "Edward, Edward, please…"

I fought to open my eyes again, this time actually getting them to flutter. I saw her blurry form and smiled. I heard her sob in relief. I tried to move my hand to grab her, but I didn't know if I was moving or not. I did eventually feel her squeeze my hand.

"Bella," I attempted to croak out.

She stopped me from speaking, and I heard her call for the doctor.

He came in a moment later, flashed his light in my eyes and had me squeeze his hand and wiggle my toes. He finally pulled the tube from my throat, and Bella pressed a straw to my lips. The liquid soothed my sore throat.

"Bella," I whispered. She smiled and kissed my lips softly. "What happened?" I asked.

"There was a bomb. My father was right about the butler. He's the prime suspect. They think he was hired by someone, though. Oh, Edward, I'm so sorry. I'm sure that bomb was meant for me."

I pulled her down to me, and it hurt to move, but I didn't care. I wanted her close to me. "No, no, I'm glad it was me and not you and Emma." I reached up and wiped her tears from her face. "How is Emma, were you and she okay?"

"Yes, your body blocked most of the blast," she sobbed. "We were thrown to the ground, but I was able to keep her from getting hurt. We fell on your mother, though, and broke her arm. Emmett and Rose were somewhat shielded by the arch and candelabras. Bree was hurt as well, but she's doing better now. We all had first-degree burns and cuts; nothing serious, just a little painful. We're all fine now."

"Did they catch him?"

"Edgar? No, my father found out his name is actually James Chester. Your old butler, Brian Windsor, didn't return home to England. He was reported missing there. My father thinks it was James who made him disappear."

"I'm sorry, love."

She leaned down and kissed my nose. "There's nothing to be sorry for."

I tried to sit up, but she stopped me.

"So, did we ever get married?" I asked.

She frowned. "I'm sorry, honey, but they weren't able to finish the ceremony."

"Call the chaplain in. I want to do it now." She looked at me sadly. "You do still want to marry me, don't you, Bella?"

"Yes, of course I do! Are you sure you want to do this now, though?" she asked worried.

"Yes, love, more than anything. I don't want another day to pass without you being my wife. Would you have the nurse fetch him, please?"

"Of course, I don't want to wait, either," she said with a wide grin and went to make the request.

The chaplain entered a short while later, giving us a gentle smile. "I've been informed that you're in need of my services?"

I cleared my throat. "Yes, our wedding was interrupted, and we'd like to rectify that."

A brilliant smile spread across his face. "Wonderful! I very seldom get to perform such ceremonies," he clapped his hands joyfully. "Do you have a marriage license?"

"Yes, I'll call Rose and have her and Emmett bring it down, and they can be our witnesses," Bella said and pulled out her phone. She spoke quickly, and not an hour later, Emmett was pinning a white rose to my hospital gown as Rose helped Bella change in the bathroom into a simple white dress. She held a small bouquet of flowers in her hand that I assumed were from the gift shop. Emmett took his place at my side and Rose on Bella's. Just as the chaplain was about to start the impromptu ceremony, Charlie came flying through the door, with mom on his heels and Emma perched on her hip.

"Don't you dare start without us." She grabbed Bella's hand and shoved her into Charlie's arms.

"Well, are we ready to begin now?" the chaplain asked beaming with excitement, "Or are we waiting for anyone else?"

Mom shook her head no and waved for him to begin. I chuckled lightly, as Emmett started humming the wedding march, and Bella smiled up at her father, who leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I love you, Bells," I heard him whisper to her as he gave her to me for the second time.

The ceremony was short, but perfect. I kissed my girl, and Emmett passed me her rings. She slid a matching platinum band on my finger, and I realized she must have had it specially made to match her ring. It fit perfectly. She kissed me a second time, and the chaplain pulled my tray over, so we could sign the marriage certificate. It was done; we were officially married.

Bella was finally my wife.

Apparently, they'd had to do a lot of reconstruction on me, before they'd even dared to try and wake me. I was in the hospital for two months. One of those months, I had been in a coma, as they worked on my skin grafts. My back had received severe burns, before they had been able to get the fire put out. Fortunately, my head had been bent forward, saving the back of my scalp and hair. I had seen my back. It was a mess of angry-looking red and white scars. I didn't have much feeling in it anymore, but I guess it wasn't a big deal. My butt itself wasn't scarred. It had made it out alright. Bella assured me I still had adorable butt dimples. She kissed them, as she told me that she loved all of me. My girl, she was amazing. Even ugly and scarred, she still loved me.

I realized that the bomb had been set to kill and would have done so instantly, but I'd survived because I had been just on the edge of the blast. I guess you never realized how close you were to dying, when it was you that was dying. I was glad that it had been me that had taken the blast and not my girls. I would have never forgiven myself if they had been hurt. I was just grateful I'd recovered. Unfortunately, the preacher who had been performing our service had been even closer to where the explosion had happened than I'd been. He didn't make it.

Whoever had set the bomb was officially a murderer. James Chester was the prime suspect, but like Bella had said, he had most likely been hired by someone, and that had me worried. If someone had been trying to kill my family and had failed, I feared that at some point, they might try again.

**A/N I'm going to try and keep updating this every other day and In Love with a Stranger once a week. I'm getting a surgery done on Tuesday, so things may slow for about a week. I'm trying to get as much writing done as possible, so you guys don't have to go without.**


	35. Chapter 35

**Savannavansmutsmut is feeling a little under the weather after her surgery, so I'm posting this for her. Send her some love and maybe something funny. She's high as a kite right now on painkillers, so everything is funny!**

**Chapter 35**- **One night I looked up at the beautiful stars and began to think...where the HECK is my roof?**

**EDWARD**

I had been home for a month now. I had no plans on going back to work. Facing death had a way of making me see what was important, and I realized that spending my every waking minute and some of my sleeping ones with my girls was the only thing that was important to me anymore.

We would be fine financially. I came from money, and my trust fund alone was plenty for us to live on for the rest of our lives.

My mom had wanted us to come and visit, but Bella was still nervous about going somewhere that had employed a man who had tried to kill her. I still couldn't believe she had been right. But then again, I realized I should never question Bella. She had a way of reading most people that would put fortune tellers to shame. Maybe I'd have her help my parents get a replacement butler.

I did finally get her to agree to meet my mother for tea. We were all going together. I was clinging to my girl, since I realized I'd almost lost her, and, well, she was hanging on to me, too, so it was okay. An outsider might think we were smothering each other, but in reality, we were just grateful that we still had each other.

My mother met us at the door. I almost said, _"See, no butler,"_ but I didn't.

My mother immediately took little Emma from my arms and snuggled her tightly. I felt bad. It was obvious that she missed us horribly.

I looked over at Bella and saw she was looking very worriedly at my mom, who turned quickly and hurried down the hall toward one of the tea rooms. I held Bella back a little so we could talk.

"Is everything alright?" I asked hoping for some insight.

"No, it's your mom…something's wrong, Edward. Something's very wrong," she said and then quickly followed after my mom.

We all sat down in the tea room, and I could see my mom was plastering on a fake smile. How had I missed that before? She had dark circles under her eyes that not even her expensive makeup could hide.

"Hey, Mom, how have you been doing?" I asked sincerely worried. I scooted next to her and put my arm around her.

I saw a flash of pain on her face, before she said, "Oh, I'm fine, dear. I'm so happy you all were able to come. I was missing you so much." She reached a hand out and squeezed Bella's to let her know that she did truly miss her.

My girl, the wonderful woman she was, got up and sat on the other side of my mom and hugged her tightly. That was all it took, and my mother was a blubbering mess. I took Emma from her lap, and my mother held onto Bella with all her might, as she cried her eyes out.

Little Emma started to fuss, so I took her out for a walk in the hall to let my girls have a moment. My mom was obviously upset about something.

I didn't get very far, when I saw my father at the end of the hall. "Oh, you came," he sneered, "And you brought your little brat. Well, you're both worthless shits now, aren't you," he growled and stumbled.

It was the stumble that made me realize my father was very drunk. That and he was holding a bottle that he took another swig from. "You're nothing now, threw it all away, and for what? Nothing!" he said taking a few more steps toward me. "I raised a couple of fuck-ups, didn't I? You and your brother, you're total fuck-ups, with your whores and their babies."

If I hadn't been holding Emma, I would've punched the jackass in the face.

"YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!" he shouted.

I heard a door open and close behind me, and then I felt Bella's hand on my arm. "Edward, we need to go."

I looked to see that Bella was still holding my mother in her arms, my mother's face down on her shoulder. I realized then when she said 'we' that she meant my mother as well. I nodded and followed her down the hall and out the door, doing my best to ignore my father's drunken ranting behind us.

It was later that night, after I'd learned what was going on, that I wished I had passed my daughter to my wife and beaten the ever living shit out of that bastard.

What I'd thought were dark circles turned out to be black eyes. My father had beaten my mother. I didn't know how my girl had known, but thank god that she had, and we were able to get my mom out of there.

Of course, mom made excuse after excuse for him. I wasn't all that surprised to hear her blame it on his drinking and my grandparents.

As it turned out, once I'd dropped out of my residency, word had gotten back to my grandfather. What I hadn't known was that my father's fortune had a stipulation on it. My father was the only Cullen boy, and so it had been left up to him to produce male heirs worthy of the Cullen name and reputation. Of course, if we turned out to be a couple of dropout losers who amounted to nothing, as my father now saw us, then my grandparents would pull the plug on the money.

My mother told me that the Cullen's had previously disowned Carlisle; that was until Emmett and I had been born. That was when the money came back into play. That was when the whole mess had erupted.

My mother told me that she had met with my grandfather recently on her own and had cleared everything up, letting him know that Emmett was still in school, but my father hadn't believed her and went nuts, beating her.

If I never saw my father again, it would be too soon, and I would be going nuts on his face.

Bella was an angel. She had my mother set up and comfortable in the guestroom. She sent Rose out to get her some clothes, and then she pulled out a deck of cards and a tub of ice cream to help distract my mother.

She was a saint.

My mother had been staying with us a week, when someone rang our doorbell. One might not think a doorbell ringing was odd, but it was at our house, because everyone we knew who was welcome just walked in.

We all stopped what we were doing and stared at the front door for a minute. Bella finally got up, taking little Emma with her, and answered it.

We were all shocked by what we saw.

"Well, look here, Marjorie, they answer their own door." It was my grandfather and grandmother. My mother quickly patted her hair and straightened her dress. It made me sad that she was nervous around them.

Bella, being the angel she was, smiled at them and invited them in. He looked around and seemed to be amused with something, whereas my Grandmother Marjorie seemed to be disgusted.

"So, Edward, all that money in your trust fund and you choose to live here," he said tapping his cane on the floor. My mother actually blushed.

"Here is good. Emmett lives next door. We wanted our kids to grow up together."

"Plenty of room in the mansion, you know."

"It's a little crowded with my father there," I growled.

"Right, right," he said looking around at the pictures on the wall. "Look, this won't take long. Seems Emmett is on the road to becoming a doctor, and I wanted to know why you stopped."

I pulled off my shirt, shocking him, and then turned around, exposing my scars. They hadn't attended our wedding and had no clue what had happened to me.

"Heavens, boy, did someone drag you behind a horse?" he asked.

"No, someone tried to kill my wife and child at our wedding. They missed and got me instead. After nearly dying, I decided I'd rather be with them than waste my time anywhere else."

"Do you need to sit?" Bella asked shocking us all.

My grandfather looked at her surprised and then smiled. "Thank you, dear." He took a seat in the living room, and my grandmother sat next to him carefully. I was amazed she didn't pull out a hanky to sit on.

"Would you like something to drink?" Bella, ever the angel, asked.

My grandfather smiled. "Why, yes, do you have some _Bourbon_?"

Bella smiled. Alice had given us the good stuff trying to make amends. "Yes, we have Bourbon del Valle, red or gold label?" she asked.

His eyes lit up. "Red, if you have it. That's a rarity, you know, my dear."

She grabbed him a glass and brought him out the bottle. His eyes widened. "How on earth did you get this?"

"My friend owns a bar; people give her this stuff all the time and she usually passes it on to me. She knows Edward has the taste buds to appreciate it."

"Well, then, my boy, you should join me in a drink."

I was about to protest, when Bella put her hand on my shoulder and gave me that play nice look. She handed me a glass and took her seat next to me. My grandmother was still making a face, as if she smelled something bad, and it was pissing me off.

Bella set Emma on the floor, and she pulled herself up using the coffee table and smiled at my grandfather. He'd better hope he didn't say anything bad, because I was not above punching the old man.

"Well now, looks like she has the Cullen eyes, doesn't she? Are you planning on having any more children?" he asked looking at me.

I looked at Bella and shrugged. "Well, yes, I suppose, but Emma isn't even a year old yet."

"Yes, yes, right, of course, and you don't even have a nanny. So in a few years then?" he asked Bella directly.

"Yes, I suppose. I'm not opposed to having more kids, if it's what Edward wants."

"Of course it is. We need an heir to pass down the Cullen name. Turns out Emmett shoots blanks, I assume that's something that runs in your family," he nodded to Esme.

I was about to say something to correct his misinformation and the slight against my mother, but Bella gripped my hand. "So, Mr. Cullen, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit today," she asked a bit too politely, but I didn't think he'd noticed.

"I just wanted to get the facts, before I draw up the papers."

"Papers?"

"My will, boy, you don't think I'm leaving anything to that mess of a man you call your father, do you? Your mother's gone and ruined him good."

At that, I stood up, and Bella, wise woman she was, quickly put Emma in my arms.

"Look, boy, I know we don't see eye to eye, but I promised my father on his deathbed that I'd be sure to produce an heir to pass down the family name. It took five tries before we had a son. Now, your father only had you two, and since Emmett's shooting blanks, that leaves you. So I'm going to leave everything to you, if you can produce a son."

"I don't want it," I snapped.

"Fine, fine." He looked at Bella, "You be sure to call me, when you have yourselves a boy. If I'm dead, Marjorie knows the drill. She'll make sure you'll get it all once she's gone."

"We don't want it," I snapped again.

"Think of how many houses for homeless people you could build with all that money." I looked at him shocked. "What, you think I don't know where you're spending all my pennies?" He let out a laugh. "You may not think I like you, but I do, and when you bought a mess of houses to give to some low-lives, just to impress a girl, I knew you were on to something with this one," he said pointing to Bella. "Charity's good for public relations. You have yourself a girl who'll make us look good."

Did he really think she cared if he approved of her?

"My mother's been head of several charity boards for years," I defended her.

"Yes, but I can tell with this one, she thinks outside the box. She's really going to make something of the Cullen name, and 'bout damn time, I'd say." He stood up, so I guessed he was ready to go.

"Well, Edward, Bella, it was nice to see you again," he said. Emma kicked and squealed, smiling at him. "She's a happy one, isn't she? I knew there was more to babies than screaming." He reached down and tickled my daughter's foot. She laughed and squealed, reaching for him.

"Would you like to hold her?" Bella asked.

I wanted to scream, _"No, he can't hold her!"_ But when I saw the look on his face, I couldn't help but smile.

He was downright stunned. "I…ah…I don't think I know how."

Bella, the little wonder she was, put her arm around my grandfather's shoulder. "I'll help you," she said sweetly and brought our daughter to his chest.

My daughter, of course, was a happy baby and kicked and squealed at the attention. She clapped her hands for him and grabbed at his cane, making him laugh.

"How do you make her so happy?" he asked smiling.

I wanted to say something rude, but my Bella cut me off. "Oh, she just knows she's loved, that's all. With Edward, Esme and me doting on her all the time, she can't help but be happy."

"Well, that's nice indeed." He passed my daughter back to my wife and patted her shoulder. "Thank you, dear," he said sincerely.

He headed for the door. "Edward," he called, stopping before he stepped outside, but I was sure my grandmother was long gone already, "This visit has been eye-opening. Don't worry about school. I've decided you're fine to do what you're doing and just have a family for now. You seem to be doing good with this one," he pointed to my daughter. "Make some more, Son, and enjoy it while it lasts," he said before he left, shutting the door after himself.

I stood there gaping, a little lost and confused. My mother broke the silence. "Well, that went well."

We looked at her shocked. My grandparents had been outright rude to her, and she thought it went well?

"So, Bella, dear, would you like some help in the kitchen with dinner?" she asked.

"Mom?"

"Edward, I've been dealing with the likes of them for going on thirty years now. Please, don't make anything out of this. They were actually very nice this time. I think they were trying to be friendly."

"What?"

"I think she's right, Edward."

I was sure my wife and my mother had lost it.

"Your grandfather seemed to really try, and your grandmother didn't say a word. That in itself is an amazing feat, dear. You should be pleased. It seems they're trying to change for the better," my mother tried to explain. "I think your wonderful wife has something to do with it."

I couldn't believe it, but my beautiful Bella wrapped her arms around me and kissed my nose. "See, baby, things are looking up." She smacked my butt and winked at me, before disappearing into the kitchen.

Yeah, my girl was just amazing.

**BETA'S NOTE: I wanted to rec a few stories/authors I've been working with lately. Please go have a look and leave them some reviews. Their stuff is really good and terribly under-reviewed!**

_**Stealing Home**_ by redkat19761 is an awesome read. The story is finished, she's just publishing chapters as I finish beta'ing them. The story spans over a ten-year timeframe from when they meet as teens (him 15, her almost 17) when Edward and Emmett's dad move them to be nearer to their grandfather after their mother dies of cancer. Both have trust and abandonment issues, but can they overcome them to find each other again?

_**Emanon**_ by morganb91 is a WIP, but it's really good so far. Jaded teens who have clashed since preschool are still clashing and tempting fate with their reckless behavior while trying to grow up and cope with life and peer pressure, but their Boxers have other ideas about how to get along. Puppies ensue!

_**Supernatural Hunters in Training (S.H.I.T.)**_ by meeky311. This story is so funny it should come with a no-drinking-while-reading warning. It's very tongue-in-cheek, among other places, while the dynamic duo deal with horny haints and possessing perverts. Emmett is in rare form throughout. It's the Rated-M convergence of _Ghostbusters, Supernatural and Scooby Doo_. Zoinks and Jenkies!

_**Paladin,**_ also by meeky311, is a WIP. Bella is a "superhero" of sorts, stalking the seedy streets of Seattle after dark, saving innocents from the scum found there. She's known as the Coffee Vigilante, because all her rescued vics claim she smells like coffee. Edward Cullen is the SPD detective determined to find out who she is, using a secret weapon of his own. Very good story so far!


	36. Chapter 36

**Beta'd by the beautiful Dollybigmomma. I am a live and just getting off my pain meds. The surgery went well. Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes.**

**Chapter 36 – Boys are like trees, they take 50 years to grow up.**

**EDWARD**

When I had originally left for my residency over a year ago, I'd hired a man to manage the construction of the neighborhood for our homeless friends. Swan Estates was going to move forward, whether Bella and I were together or not.

Jack, the man I'd hired, had been doing a great job, and when my grandfather mentioned the community, Bella was upset that she had been so preoccupied with her own life, that she had completely forgotten about our homeless friends.

"Our daughter is a worthy distraction. Between your accident, pregnancy, our wedding, the insane butler, and the bomb, I think they'd completely understand why you haven't been so involved."

"Well, with us all being home, we have plenty of time to get our hands dirty and help out," she said determined.

And boy did we get dirty. Most of the houses had been constructed already, but there was a lot of finishing work to do, such as painting and decorating. Both were right up my mom's alley. She and Bella had a lot of fun picking out housewares, linens and furniture for the homes. Between the three of us, little Emma was always well taken care of amidst the bustle.

It was also nice to visit with our friends, and just like I knew they would, they understood why Bella and I had been absent from the project. The planned homes were nearly done, and everyone was anxious to get moved in.

We were going on a family outing of sorts, to visit the community we had built up for our friends and see if they needed a community center. Bella had already talked of expanding the homes for the homeless program and adding a park, but she thought having a community center for AA meetings and afterschool programs would be more important. It turned out that some of the men had families, and once the homes were livable, they would be able to reunite.

We arrived with huge trays of food for the community meeting, because that was the only way Bella traveled. I swear the woman had a "_must feed others" _disorder.

We all sat at the picnic tables, visiting with friends. I was please to see Sweet-tooth Tom talking with my girls. Joe asked how my father was, and I grimaced and said fine. As far as I knew, he wasn't dead, and that was more than he deserved, so he was fine.

The men were amazing in their camaraderie. They had started a large community farm that supplied fresh fruits and vegetables for everyone. When we had discussed the original layout of the land, I was surprised when some had insisted on having the acreage, but now I could see the benefits of it. It was their way of making sure no one went hungry. Since it was such a success, I suggested they add an orchard in the new section of land and fruit and nut trees in every yard. Bella also suggested we expand the barn. I noticed how Tom and Mac's eyes lit up when she said it.

"Would you men be able to manage the additional animals if we were able to acquire some more?"

"Yes!" they answered excitedly.

It was decided the next twenty homes would go to families. They were still small and simple, but my architect, Mathew Harris, was able to design them so they would be three-bedroom homes. There was nothing fancy or extravagant about these homes, but they would be a good solid roof over their heads with warm clean bed, which I was assured would be greatly appreciated.

It was almost a year later that we arrived at the new section of the community with the animals. We had a dozen milk cows, two bulls, a few sheep and goats, six dozen chickens, and half a dozen roosters. I had purchased forty additional acres, set aside just for the animals, and also added several extra stalls in the barn so they could board horses for profit to cover the cost of feeding the community animals.

My beautiful Bella was very round with her second pregnancy, and chasing our first child, who was chasing a chicken, when a long dark car pulled up.

"Well, now, what do we have here?" a familiar voice said. I turned and saw my grandfather getting out of his car. "Isn't that a sight?" he pointed to my wife, who had just caught my daughter. They were both laughing, and I had to admit, he was right; they were beautiful. "Looks like you got yourself another bun in the oven," he addressed Bella, as she walked up smiling.

To my complete shock, little Emma squealed, "Grandpa!" and reached out for him.

"Well, now, that's sweet, isn't it," he responded. He leaned over, hugging my daughter and kissing her head. "She's a right beauty now, isn't she?"

To say I was shocked would have been an understatement.

"How is Marjorie doing?" my wife asked, and his eyes lit up.

"Good, good, thank you for asking. She had a prior engagement, so she couldn't make it out. I heard about the Cullen community barn opening for business, and I just had to see what that was all about."

Bella jumped right in and started to explain excitedly. She passed my daughter to me and hooked her arm in my grandfather's and started showing him around. He actually acted interested. I wasn't sure if it was genuine, but Bella seemed to believe it was.

"So, you not only got a roof over their heads, but you've made it so they can have food in their mouths and no one can take it from them. Good heavens, sounds a bit like paradise," he said impressed.

She also went on to explain about the community center that held clubs, computers and a library, and ran programs for them to get help with problems and post help-wanted ads. She proudly stated that with homes, ninety-eight percent of our population had been able to get jobs.

"Well, in this economy, that really is something now." My grandfather actually sounded please. "It seems you did more than just give them a handout, now didn't you?"

"That's the idea," Bella said excitedly. "We want to help them get back on their feet and become independent."

She took my grandfather around to a picnic table in the orchard and washed a couple of apples she picked from a tree and handed him one. "Sorry, I need to take a minute," she said blushing. I could see her excitement was becoming overshadowed by her pregnancy.

"So tell me, what are you cooking in there?" my grandfather asked with a smile.

I wrapped my arms around Bella. It was hard not to feel protective of her. We had just found out the sex, and I didn't really care to tell him.

Bella, on the other hand, seemed to treat my grandfather like an old friend and happily informed him that she was four month pregnant with twin boys.

To say that my grandfather's response was comical would have been accurate. He jumped up, waving his cane in the air and shouted hallelujah. His excitement was palpable.

"We've got to celebrate this, my dear! Yes, we do! Lord in heaven, thank you, God! We have to celebrate, do something to commemorate it!" He started mumbling something about statues, and then something clicked. "That there, who owns that land on the far side there?"

"I don't know," I answered.

"Well, now, boy, it's time we owned it as well. We've got to expand this place in honor of the twins. Make another place just like this one, but identical, so it can be in honor of the twins. What do you say?" he asked Bella more than me. I would have protested, but Bella was always wanting to do more and jumped right on it excitedly.

I was worried it was going to get out of hand, if my grandfather got involved. In fact, I was sure it would.

Of course, what I came home to that night was just as shocking. I walked in on my mother kissing Charlie of all people. My wife dropped her purse in shock. I wasn't sure what to say. I was holding my sleeping daughter in my arms, so I couldn't really say anything at the moment.

I quickly put my daughter to bed and came out to find Bella giggling and hugging my mom and her dad.

Charlie cleared his throat, when he saw me walk in. I raised an eyebrow in question, and he spoke nervously.

"We're close to getting James. Seems he's back in the area. I wanted to be sure that your home was secure and let you know what was going on. I don't think he's coming after you guys, though. He was spotted in the Seattle area renting a rundown apartment. We were going to move in on him, but someone," he smiled at my mother, "pointed out that he had to have money for running and that his connection should be sought out as well, so we're sitting on our hands and watching him to see where he goes looking for cash. We have guys on him twenty-four-seven, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Charlie," I cut him off, "Were you kissing my mother?"

He blushed a deep red, and my mother shocked me by saying, "No, I was kissing him."

"Mom, you're still married. To an asshole, I agree, but still."

"Edward, we've been separated for over a year now. The last time I saw him was after I went back to get my things, and I've not seen nor heard from your father again. Carlisle has made no move to come get me or apologize. I'd say it's over between us. I've filed for divorce."

"But, Mom..."

"No, dear, I know what I'm doing, just trust me on this." She smiled at Charlie and kissed his cheek.

Bella seemed okay with the idea of them being together. To say I was a little uncomfortable about the whole situation would have been an understatement, but I guess my mother could have done worse.


End file.
